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!

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[A small green-and-pink creature on two legs books it, running very fast not far above knee level. It's something like a lizard, something like a bird, and it's screaming with two voices. The one you hear with your ears is just emitting some panicked shrieks and whistles, but it's saving most of its breath for running. The one you don't hear with your ears doesn't have to worry about breathing and sounds like a man wailing in terror.

As he goes past it sounds like this.]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Eventually he's gonna duck into a tent, a building, a stall, anything more enclosed, and while panting look back along his own length with his flexible semi-birdlike neck, only to become distracted with by his own quilled tail. And start turning in place like a dog chasing its tail as he's trying to get a better look, while muttering.]

Ohhh, nononno, oh, no, oh, how is this happening?! What's going on? What am I??

[If he sees you he's yelping something about TOO BIG and trying to bolt but he's made himself dizzy and will probably stumble or outright collide with something. It's not a good day to be a little dinosaur.]

[What the hell is that thing? 9S gives chase when the creature bolts after it yelps about him being TOO BIG. Okay, so it can speak, which means it probably has some kind of sentience.

His pod has something to say about the situation.]

< Analysis: Unknown lifeform is moving too fast to Unit 9S to catch up. Proposal: Use pod long-range capabilities to force the unknown lifeform to stop >

Gotcha. Go ahead.

[With that affirmation, the pod's box-like body splits open, and after a short charge time, fires a laser at an angle that will cut in front of the creature's immediate path in an attempt to force the creature to pull up short to avoid getting struck.]

Do Your Job

"Oh, gosh, I disappear for a little bit and everything goes to pot. I hated to do it, but problems at home needed me a lot more than here..."

In the now-occupied Treasurer office, there's a possible familiar face. "Possible", seeing as it's very certain many people never saw this figure before. About 4 feet tall in height, wearing an interesting purple and black ensemble.

Oh, and she also appears to be an animal. A lynx, in fact. Poking away on a handheld computer that she's holding with her tail. Horns protruding from her forehead and plenty of her clothing hiding away some of the gems and metal that cover her body.

"...ah, someone's here." she quickly turns around in her chair, taking the computer in her hand. "Hello, need something from Nicole? I'm a little busy, but I can certainly take the time to help out."

...oh, and she flickers just a bit, but that one's quite normal, being practically a living AI hologram.

Break Time

Trying to keep the finances of the Carnival is rough work, even for an AI! So much money, so many types of currency, the works! And having to keep an eye on them for so long can take it out on them. Thus, while there's a bit of down time, Nicole is fast at work, taking a nap.

Though, to make sure people still needed her, she opted to stay materialized and just swapped out her normal outfit for a pair of PJs. Don't worry, she won't bite. Maybe.

[This is not going to work quite as planned, because he's going to shriek, whip around in an about-face so fast the quills of his tail possibly get singed, and book it right back the way he came. Nyoom!

Can you catch him as he goes past, 9S? He's a little big to just pick up, and heavier than he looks - 45 pounds! - but speed and agility are his only defenses.]

Well, look who it is-Carly wasn't really expecting a familiar face. Actually she wasn't sure if she was expecting a face at all. The Treasury is an important part of Carnival life, and the lack of a Treasurer was no change from it. All they could really do was work around it, and work with the Ringmaster on it.

That did not change the fact that Treasury had at least a few things which could (perhaps) have to be stored....in Treasury however, so here she is.

A stark contrast from the woman who Nicole would have known. Back in the day, Carly was just into her first contract, a little ways into her changes-wingless, with bird's feet, and velvety black patches along her arms and back. She'd been wearing more typical clothes, back then-and her eyes had been black surrounding blue, as all Dark Signers were.

Now, Carly is Light. Her body more like marble, her fae marks carving through the white feathery skin through to the light her body is primarily comprised of. And, hovering with her light wings behind her, she stammers-

"N...N..... ....NICOLE!?" Well, she recognizes her at least.

It's kind of a feat of its own to see a monster-- well, a hologram monster from another world, just... process data and still sleep? He doesn't have any empathy for the situation, he barely sleeps himself, if it could be called that. Suspiciously lurking around her sleeping form, he wonders if he can get any... interesting data while she's conked out.

He starts to nose around the treasury just to see if she reacts.

Nicole blinked at the person before her. It took her a bit to register who it was there, but she remembered that voice from anywhere.

“Carly!” She cried out, bounding out of her chair and throwing her arms around her. Hologram, yes, but she’s different than most, so she’s certainly solid enough to hug her old friend. “Oh, my goodness, it’s so good to see you again!”

Right now, Nicole doesn’t react at the moment, but it’s hard to tell if she has something else up in her sleeve. Either way, Flowey is free to poke around for the moment.

Time to geeeently leaf over these pages on this desk here? Who's getting the mad cash and who isn't, just so he can see who he can extort and who he can't. He could be convincing when he really wanted to be! And he means really. Just because his only feelings he has back are 'antagonism' and 'pettiness' doesn't mean he shouldn't delight in them!

Ooh, this paper looks interesting...

"HHhhhh- Whaaaa-whw... What!?!" Suffice to say, since it's been over two years since she last saw the lynx, this is an enormous surprise.

And hey, it isn't like Nicole is technically the only 'hard light being' here. "N- When did you get back here..!? I thought you ended up just finishing your contract or....Or deciding to just stay back for a while, with how long you were gone..!!"

"It's been awhile, I'm sorry." Nicole said. "After I finished my contract, I wanted to return home for a bit before I came back for another round, but... everything went pear-shaped back home. I figured the Ringmaster would have said something!"

She shook her head at that. "My world literally fell apart. The madman my friends and I deal with, Dr. Eggman, somehow decided to mess with space and time and my planet couldn't take the stress and broke apart. We've just got it put back all together."

She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry I left you guys all behind. It wasn't my intention to do so."

"Well, you know how she is I guess...." Carly admits, scratching her cheek. "...If people don't seem to need her, she won't get involved~ ...Except when it's interesting to her I guess.... ....which is probably a lot, actually, hmmm..." The woman trails off a bit, wondering how accurate or inaccurate her words may have been.

Eventually she decides not to dwell on it. "WELL, anyway~! The point is y-" Oh. "Y-Your whole planet!?! H- How did that even come back together!? How are you all not dead!?"

"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...”

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: HEARTSTONE MANOR

I'm sorry, he's useless

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Nicole the Holo-Lynx | Archie Sonic the Hedgehog (Reboot) | Trying out a Veteran Here

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break time

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tmw 'wait you're manager now-' ahahahah

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