livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's first 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 read the full premise here.
Reserves open October 5th at 12:01AM EST.
Applications open October 7th at 12:01AM EST.
You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years.
TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted and the players agree to it.
If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position.
Supervisor applications will start being processed a few days after apps open, and will be selected on a competitive basis. If you want a supervisor position, it is best to submit your application as close to the beginning of the application cycle as possible. If you don't get chosen for your desired supervisor position, you will be given time to rework your application to be a regular veteran, or to apply for a supervisor position that is not yet taken.
Lost Carnival could use some additional moderation assistance! If you are interested, please let us know here.

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. Visitors to the carnival comes from many different worlds today, as the ringmaster casts out her recruitment lures. 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 (pictured above) 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.

► 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.

► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE (NEW): Sometimes, even magical ferris wheels get stuck. The carnival's particular wheel is enchanted to create a particular out of this world experience - as you pass along the top, you feel as if they are so close to the sky that you can interact with the stars like baubles hanging above your head. Of course, the novelty probably wears off when the wheel is broken and you've been stuck enjoying the light show with some stranger for the last half hour. How are you going to pass the time?

► 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.

► WILL O' WISPS: The ringmaster's will o' wisps have gotten free, and she's asked that everyone keep and eye out and help her reclaim them regardless of their official jobs. Wisps are small creatures that burn both hot and cold and comes in a few different variations of the same basic theme. Handling them physically (or psionically, or magically, for that matter) is difficult due to their near intangible nature. Touching and being around them can result in confusion and a sensation similar to being comfortably drunk.

► 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!

► RIDDLE GAME: For a bit of fun, the ringmaster has left a variety of locked chests around the worker areas of the carnival, each with instructions and a riddle written on their lids. The chest will accept three guesses from each worker before refusing to respond to them any further. If you guess the right answer, the chest will open and you will be rewarded with some manner of fun magical knick knack. If you've run out of guesses, maybe you can conspire with someone else and promise to split the prize?

► 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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[Managed to get it up to ten high--not bad at all!]

[Dropping the eleventh into her hand and tossing it over at Sans's skull by a more mundane fashion, Tanyuu slithers over with a frown and arched brow, judging him hard enough that there might as well be golden halls around them both right now.]

Good morning, Sans. Did you have a nice nap?

[Oh yeah, he's definitely getting the 'child did you seriously just break all my good china' tone.]

Gamer's Circle

[Truth be told, it's not like he's ever been in a carnival before and Shadow's not settled yet on his opinion of this place. Though you won't see him trying one of the games right away, he's not causing too much trouble as he observes other guests having their own fun.

Just don't be surprised when he does starts meddling with people's aim and concentration with his magic. Mischievous pranking to try and distract himself from his thoughts is a far cry from the darkness and destruction he helped sow and then put a stop to back in Hyrule.]

Trying to Leaf

[Instead of trying to find his way from the carnival and through the forest, Shadow opts instead to explore his alien surroundings. He floats past orange blossoms indistinguishable from candles, bushes with nuts that ring like bells, and a tree with glowing fruit that somehow catches his attention the most.]

Hm....?

[Still, they look harmless. He settles back onto the soft ground after picking off a berry in the tree. The fruit is comfortably warm in his palm for merely a moment, but then he's forced to drop it with a pained hiss as the berry reacts to him, the light of it suddenly stinging and burning.]

Tch. Light. I should've known.

Wildcard!
[Got a different prompt in mind? Come at me!]

Edited 2016-10-01 03:17 (UTC)

Ohhh, I can see how they would do that! I hope you have a lot of headache tea on hand, if you're close to them!

[Not that it's said maliciously. Jou still remembered coming from a family full of squabbling siblings, after all. Even if she was one of the middle children. Nothing like a barn full of yelling, bouncing Pandaren cublings...]

At least you might be able to go someplace else. Then again, they surely have some skill, that is quite clear!

[She shakes her head at this.]

When are you going to take your job seriously? If anything happens with your employees while you're asleep, its on you.

[ He knows.

Within a few minutes of passing through the gate, Archer becomes aware that he's being watching. Why, he can only guess, but it leaves him wary as he walks quietly towards the carnival.

Eventually, he catches a glimpse of the thing, and his eyes narrow.

Archer stops, finally, but doesn't approach. ]

Not much of a welcoming committee, are you?

[It plops off of his skull with barely any reaction, falling into his lap with the others. He looks sort of sleepy but that's about it. Times is still snoozing at his feet.]

Longer than I thought. Last time I checked it was more afternoon-ish.

Pft. Yeah, whatever. I'm a certified genius.

[Not literally. But he felt he was an excellent judge of that sort of thing.]

Where's your smart brother now? Looks like he ditched you.

Yeah, I kinda grew up with a goose as a dad. Not that it wasn't bad mind you, he's the noodle maker. It's just that I just rediscovered my birth dad, dad-dad, a couple of months ago.

Huh, sounds to me like we're from totally different places. There's got to be more than just China out there anyhow. The worlds' big enough for more than just my panda relatives.

[Those sounded Chinese to Po, and he made a thoughtful face. It looked like he was straining to do so.]

Ahhh...~ [Yayyy~ She caaaarefuly reaches out to take the orb, face full of trust...]

Ah, if only he didn't have a kid!

"Koel." Greg will no doubt notice that her costume nails are surprisingly sharp as she goes to shake his hand. "Koel Babic. And you are...?"

Edited 2016-10-01 03:20 (UTC)

[Once spotted, Gilgamesh crawls slowly from his perch. Lazily, showing off the extent of his mutated body—from sharp ivory horns to dark, dark skin to golden tattoos swirling across the expanse of his bare torso. It is not necessarily a provocative display so much as a warning: don't mess with me. A small dose of intimidation in a very pretty package.

His clawed feet hit the ground almost silently, and he rises to full height.]

I can smell you.

[His tone rolls deep, more than it ever had back home. Long ears perk and his own eyes narrow, too, pools of red on a marked face.]

I can smell you, and on you... the traces of what was once our world.

[It is an introduction, of a sort, one that outs him as a Servant. Archer will "smell" it as well; this is kin that joins him now, or at least once upon a time.]

[He would sit down again, but he broke his chair. So, instead he just tucks his hands into his hoodie pockets, and shrugs.]

Dunno what you expect me to be doing. If there's a problem, I'm gunna hear about it. This is a 24/7 job, pal. It's slow.

Ψiioniic looks over to the dog (?) as it sniffs him before smiling widely at it. It doesn't have ears, but he pets its head like it does anyway.

"Hey Buddy, how you doing tonight?"

She got it wrong? But it's paper! This whole money thing is entirely too complicated for her!

"Well, I..." She switches hands, holding out the nut bread instead. "I do have this. It's homemade! Made it fresh this morning!"

Sure enough, it looks fresh. The aroma of sugar and walnuts wafts in the air as she holds it out.

The clerk takes a sniff, and their expression lightens. Looks legit. All right, you're in. There's an implied now get out of the way, you're holding up the line as they snatch the bread and take a bite.

[Greg's not sure he's ever gotten this close to a humming bird before, let alone one sitting still. He gives it a curious look over.]

Don't tell me they're charging you for tickets too. You got your darts built right in!

[Obviously he's joking around, but he would not be too surprised if the bird talked back. He's seen too much.]

_{[The snoring may go unnoticed by her, what with the sound being so high pitched and faint, but Dedenne hears it through Bonnie's laughter and ends up distracted by it.]}

What is it, Dedenne?

_{[Little mouse ears twitch and move before he's scurrying off to find its source, which doesn't take very long. Quietly the Pokemon points toward the sleeping bird as Bonnie finds herself quietly gasping, doing her best to internalize the squeal she wants to let loose. Cute! She's never seen a creature like this before, but it's definitely a bird-type of some sort.]}

Ahh...it's so cute...I wonder why it's sleeping in here?

_{[The little mouse squeaks its name, giving his equivalent of a shrug. Her guess is as good as his.]}

[And the second that Carly's hands close around the orb, the shadows that made up its form scatter, leaving the woman to "hold" the wisp without any sort of protection.

Time to watch the magic happen.]

Roman's tail starts wagging hard enough that it shakes its whole body, and it runs a quick circle around Psii, checking him over. It always knows full well who he is as it's gotten up in his business plenty of times, but since when does that ever stop a dog from smelling things?

They don't have tongues to pant with, but they chomp their jaws a little, the bones flexing and releasing bits of magical cyan fog. Sans slowly approaches from behind, looking at the summon with genuine affection.

[Ψii shrugs.]

Sure.

[He lifts his hands, both glowing purple, before Yuugi begins to raise in the air. He stops about one foot above the ground.]

Is that high enough?

Oh yeah? Where's your certificate then, huh?

_{[Oh but...ow...low blow buddy. Shoulders stiffen and she finds her little hands bawling up into fists. The little mouse Pokemon on her shoulder doesn't look very happy with his owner being so upset, his cheeks sparking as he grips onto the fabric of her shirt.]}

Clemont would never ditch me! I was the one who ran off...it was an accident! I bet he's looking for me right now!

[Papyrus looks up at Kanata's question, and considers it with all due seriousness.]

Hmmmm. They do look like leaves.

But who's ever heard of a tree with leaves?!? That's for vines, and flowers, and things like that!

[Sorry Kanata.]

That is some grip on this old woman, all right. He clears his throat as her nails dig in a little.

"Greg Universe. Thanks again." He puts her name to memory; there may be a spot to leave kudos or something on the way out. "You take care, Koel."

...As a matter of fact, there are several items that I've noted we might need.

[She takes out a piece of delicately folded paper.]

Its not much, but if you can find any of these - or anything that might be of use I haven't got on this list - it would be much appreciated, dear.

Edited 2016-10-01 03:34 (UTC)

[NOPE!!! NOPE!!] HAAAAAAHH!!

[Instinctive, energy draining fire at its finest, and the wisp screams as it bolts away. Noooooooo-] YOU!

Look what you just made me do..!! [She wails, looking more upset with herself than anything.] Now it's just scared..!!

work

[For all the skills she has cultivated during her time with Neuro, Yako is naturally at her happiest in a kitchen. She moves around with a certain single-minded ease, chopping, stirring, skinning away at various ingredients with a pleased, relaxed humming drifting in her wake. If you've stopped by to check on the next meal or to see what's available for snacking, you might notice that some of the ingredients...

Well, some have scales, or glow faintly. Some are strange colors.

Yako doesn't seem to be very bothered by them, of course, but do you dare ask for the gritty details?]

break time

[Out of the kitchen and in the dining area, Yako is easily packing away plate after plate of her own day's labor, with palpable enjoyment, and absolutely no indication that she plans on stopping or even slowing down any time soon. Extra sauce is mopped up with bread, so each plate is practically pristine as it's added to the top of the quickly-growing tower.]

Mm... yeah, adding cumin was definitely the right move. I'll have to remember that for next time!

[Perhaps the most unnerving part about this scene is that she... doesn't appear to have undergone any changes just yet.]

riddles

[The game is meant to make the workers think. In Yako's case, her thoughts are quickly tangled up in nostalgia. Rather than attempting to actually solve the riddles, she's seated with her back to one chest, ruminating on the past.

The past, and the reason she originally signed on with the circus in the first place.]

I wonder if he'd be happy or annoyed by all of this?

[...probably the latter, knowing Neuro, she ruefully concludes. None of these puzzles were anywhere near complex enough to satisfy his appetite.]

wildcard

[I'm up for any antics, so step right up.]

Edited 2016-10-01 03:37 (UTC)

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Page 15 of 98

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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IM GONNA MURDER YOU ONE DAY DRAG!!!

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Doge

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Go ahead and try, being a troll's too fun

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Yako Katsuragi | Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro | Veteran