livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: HEARTSTONE MANOR

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test drive meme

⇨ 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Magic." Nicole said, grinning sheepishly. "Honestly, that's what it was. Apparently, our world has something of a massive upheaval caused by two being - Light Gaia and Dark Gaia. I guess you can call it a Battle of Gods. We just had to find the Chaos Emeralds and the special temples that were used to put the planet back together to fix things."

After a bit, she thought about it before laughing. "I swear, I'm not making this up, even if it sounds like something from a video game or something!"

"Hmnhhhhhh..." For a moment, Carly seems to just be considering this. Eventually however, she jumps- "AH! A-Actually, it seems pretty believable, after everything else that we've seen here..! ....actually, it sounds like something that would happen at home, with the battle that was going on before I came here..." She probably never really shared that bit beyond 'this is aslla piscu, he's in my shadow, grumble grumble undead'.

Not that she's very undead now, of course.

Nicole chuckled a bit before nodding. "I'm sure others won't, though. But, it doesn't matter. It's settled - the world is whole again and I don't think we'll have to worry about Eggman for a long time"

She looked over her friend, a curious look on her face. "Now, how about you? You look like you have stories galore to tell!"

"Ahhhh....well, I don't know about....'galore'," she laughs, tapping her fingers against each other with a nervous laugh. What was it about the man of eggs and whatever in Nicole's world again???? She's forgotten but she's not asking. IRRELEVANT. "I-I mean a lot definitely happened, uh....um..."

There is a cough, and she's a bit quieter. "I.... ....Got rid of Aslla Piscu, I guess..."

"You did? Th-that's great! Right?" Nicole said, just a little confused. "You were having trouble with that little bit..."

"HAH!~" That laugh might be. Louder than intended. "Y-YEP! A LOT........a lot of trouble....ah..." Ahem.

"....It's all dealt with now though so it's nothing to worry about at all!" NONE AT ALL. "I have Wardrobe to worry about instead~! And my trailer, and my pokemon, and magic..."

There are so many things to catch up on, maybe.

“...oh, what have I missed?! If I missed some great adventures, i’m Going to be so upset!” Nicole said, hanging her head and sighing.

“What’s a Pokémon?”

"Ahhhh....they're sort of...like pets?" Carly hesitates when she tries to explain, crossing her arms. "I mean...they're smarter than that, in the sort of way a monkey might be, I guess... They were the fauna in one of the locations we visited, so we were allowed to keep one if we proved we could look after them~!"

"Oh! They're like the Chao from my world!" Nicole said, making the connection. "That's actually pretty neat! A shame I couldn't of been there!"

Chao? "Oh...Yeah?" She supposes they can only really...guess at it, though... "Oh! I guess I could introduce you to Nuna, and we'd know for sure....she should be in my trailer right now..." Carly murmurs, crossing her arms.

...What had she come in here for again? She'll probably remember in an hour.

Nicole can't help but laugh. "Don't worry about it. I'm stuck here for another year, so you have all the time in the world to tell me."

"Now, a question of my own - what brought you over here?"

"Eh?" .....

"OH!" Carly jumps, and practically shines as bright as a sun on the spot for a brief second. "R-RIGHT!!! I was originally going to look for a few papers I need to fill out for the Ringmaster so I can get some fabric money, but-" Oh. She blinks. "....Ah.... ...If you're here, though..."

Let her just. Fill in the blanks. Slowly. Slowly.... "AHHH!!! If you're back, I can just ask you now!! AHHH~!" EVERYTHING IS LOOKING UP. (Why's Carly doing this instead of her boss though...)

“Ahh, I see now...” Nicole said, crossing her arms and nodding. “Though, why you? We do have a chain of command here, so...”

Carly is quiet for a few moments, once again-as, once again, she realizes that perhaps the things she's used to being normal (not that anyone has really been able to recall that she's a supervisor lately), are....not obvious.

Particularly not to someone who's been gone so long they didn't even see her stint as a scout. "AH...."

"R-Right..!! That's important...well, the thing is~" Carly announces, coughing as she takes a somewhat prideful pose, "I'm still following that chain~"

“You are? Then... wait, you’re...!” Nicole stammered. “Carly, when? This is great! Oh, I should have been there...!”

Carly's proud grinning seems to only get wilder and wilder, before she finally 'breaks' and nods. "Yes~!!! Wardrobe Manager! Eh-" Hmm. Technically about two months, is the correct answer, but she also knows Portland was....one of those months.

No one likes to talk about Portland so. "....About a month ago? ....We haven't really had a chance to celebrate actually," she mutters, squinting. Yes, where was that party you promised, Strange....

"Either way, I'm happy to hear that!" Nicole said. "It's a big responsibility, but you certainly look like someone who could handle it!"

She couldn't help but sigh wistfully. "Gosh, so much I missed..."

"EH? Seriously?!" Come to think, Nicole wasn't really around to see what a non depressed Carly could get up to, was she....so for once she probably did look rather competent.

It's strange. "Ahahaha....well, it's been a while, that's true... ...But I'm sure you can get caught up!! And it's not TOO much..."

The last year alone has perhaps been their busiest.

"I certainly hope so..." Nicole said. "Say, how about we get you those papers, then, if there isn't too much going on, we can see what kind of trouble we can get to, hm?"

"Right~" Wait, give her a second-

"...W-W-WAIT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONES MAKING TROUBLE..!!"

And Nicole just laughs. "No, no, I mean maybe we can see what we can do around here. Play one of the games or get something to eat..."

She stops, blinks, then grins sheepishly.

"...oh, wait, last one I can't do just yet. I gotta wait another year for that to happen again."

"Eh, really..?" Wait.

Wa- "...WAIT what was your first contract even for if it wasn't a body!?"

"I wasn't sure I wanted a permanent body back then." Nicole said. "There was so much I wanted to enjoy, so much I wanted to do, so I only asked for one for a few days."

She looked away, smiling softly as she continued. "I wanted to ask for a permanent body for a second year, but duty called. And coming back here after that, it's made that desire grow even more."

"You only had a body for a few days..? How did that even work..."

"Ask the Ringmaster?" Nicole can only say. "All I know was was that I wanted to have it for just long enough so see if I truly wanted it..."

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tmw 'wait you're manager now-' ahahahah

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