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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I bet Amethyst clambering up to flop over the machine next to her is exactly what Peridot wanted, right? Right?? Haha well either way here she is, lounging like a cat except for her face propped up on one hand.

"Hey Per, how's it goin'?"

Ahh, yes.

[Kadin is getting some fairly strong vibes from this person. Not good vibes. He might even say pretty bad vibes. Maybe he's just biased against forward, confident people. Maybe aggressive behaviors, even ones not direct at him specifically, put him on edge. Or maybe someone stealing half of his first meal in a month and then frame it as a kind and benevolent gesture just rubs him the wrong way.

Whatever it is Kadin just wants this encounter to blow over sooner rather than later. It's pretty clear by his reaction that this man doesn't intend to punish him for killing the goat, so for now smiling, nodding, and going along with whatever he says seems the best course of action.]

Some people find it disturbing. But you don't mind?

[WOW. No one asked you, Jasper.]

Doubt it. Aren't you a little too tall to be hitting below the belt?

[Spyro jerks his head to one side.]

C'mon, step aside. I'll show you and this strength test who's boss.

No way! Squishy was way more special!

_{[Really, really special. Legendary special.]}

Squishy was at first really small and would fit in my pochette, and was green and, well, squishy. Squishy never ate anything either - he'd eat the light from the sun, like a plant! But Squishy could get bigger too. Really, really big! Bad people were after him and controlled him and he almost destroyed all of Lumiose city!

[To be fair, normally Peridot avoids crossing paths with Jasper unless their jobs both call for it, but uhh... it's kind of hard to ignore the other gem sitting over there and kicking up an electrical storm between her mitts like that. Peridot stops dead in her tracks to watch, transfixed, eyes wide.

...When she's addressed though, she jolts in surprise... and promptly swivels her pointed ears back in anger, sharp teeth flashing in an offended grimace.]

N-No--! [Blast it. Why the stammering. She swallows and tries again, putting on her best defiant scowl and folding her arms over her chest.] I'm on my break! I can go wherever I want.

► ADMISSION FEES
"I AM NOT THE FEE!" He didn't know what else to say to the ticket taker. His left eye twitches a little and he makes an incredibly rude gesture to the back of a older man retreating into the carnival proper.

Leave to to Genma to once again pawn his son off onto someone for something he wanted. Sad thing is that Ranma is completely used to this. Doesn't mean he has to like it any. He's got his pride and he's not a thing to be just sold off...again. But because he's got his pride, he doesn't like being in debt, even if it's his dad's debt.

"Right...so... this sucks. How much is it again? I guess I gotta pay for the both of us, right?"

► MIRROR MAZE:
Mirror mazes. Fun times right? Wrong. He's not Ryoga. He's not the sort that'll get lost in a wet paper bag, but there he is. Lost. In the maze and has been for a while. Long enough that his reflection has been doing and saying weird things. Which, seeing as Ranma's tolerance for really strange things is really high, that says something.

What's more is when he turns a corner, the dark haired boy doesn't see his reflection. Well...he does but it's not the him he knows he is right now. He stands before the mirror and reflected back at him is a petite red haired girl. She does a nauseatingly cute pose at him, sticks out her tongue and chirps back at him in his own (female) voice. "You're never getting rid of me, you know."

"Shut up!" He turns to storm in another direction, only to run into someone. Behind him, his reflection giggles.

► GAMER'S CIRCLE: (Feat girltype)
It was inevitable. If there was water, somehow, no matter how hard he tried, it just sort of found him. He had been minding his own business, looking at all the games. There looked to be some fun challenges. Ranma can't turn down any sort of challenge. So Anything Goes Martial Arts Dart Tossing. Yes. Anything Goes Martial Arts Clown Dunk. On it. Anything Goes Martial Arts Gold Fish Catch.... well, he'll actually pass on that. Only some little kid decided that they were going to splash that gold fish water everywhere. Including on him.

Now, he is a her. In place of a dark haired martial artist, there is a small buxom young lady with brilliant red hair. She's soaking wet and looking pretty annoyed at herself. "What did you do that for?!" She demands before sighing and wringing some of the water out of her hair. She then sloshes around Gamer's Circle.

"I guess you don't know where I can find hot water, do you?"

► WILD CARD - acrobatics
Well, he's stuck here for now he guesses. Might as well get some training done. He's walked around the carnival for a while and came upon the big top. Honestly, Ranma's pretty much done the circus thing before. He can juggle and do all sorts of crazy things, but what he's most skilled at is arial combat. There is a high wire up there with his name on it.

Ranma effortlessly climbs the ladder up to the thin little wire. With confidence, he steps out on the wire. It's just like walking on the chain link fences back in Nermia. At first, he just gets his balance and his baring up there. As soon as he does, he goes to the middle and up on one foot. Then he kicks above his head.

From there, he slowly goes through his kata, the movements growing more and more complex as he jumps and moves and flis, always landing perfectly upon the wire, sometimes with both feet, sometimes with only one and an few times, with one hand before springing up into the air again for astounding flips.

He's utterly unaware of the audience he's gotten below him. Instead, he starts a series of flips and twists, down a line over 50 feet into the air. It's not until he's on the other side and catching his breath as he notices. "Oh!" He sort of waves down below and waves a little. "I guess I shouldn't be up here, should I? I'll be right down."

Edited 2016-10-01 18:15 (UTC)

He's doing okay in the maze, sort of. He's getting sick of his reflection making faces at him and trying to pick a fight. He knows that breaking a mirror is seven years of bad luck. He's seen and done too much to not think that it could actually happen just like that. It's more annoying than anything else, specially when the reflection takes on the form of his cursed body.

He turns around a corner and his heart...stops. Cat. Shit. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Maybe if he turns the other way and goes quickly, the cat won't notice him. He can feel a cold sweat starting down his back.

Just...back away slowly. He keeps an eye on the cat and he's sort of not noticed that the red haired version of him in the mirror is right there, for everyone to see.

[She gasps, shocked and slightly winded, but she regains her composure quickly and watches the zebra with narrowed eyes. She has no idea what the things Zecora is wearing are, but she can only assume they mean this zebra must be part of the strange carnival...?]

Employees...? [She growls, confused and frustrated.] I don't understand.

Hey! Get back here old man! Don't you try to leave me back there. I already told you I wasn't going to be the entry fee!!

[ And here comes a streak of red Chinese silk and black hair though the young man screeches to a halt only moments later. Stops and stares. And stares some more, head tilting just a little. ]

....Sorry...wrong panda. Have you see a panda around here. About so tall. Real fat. Real lazy.

[ He then totally waits for a sign to come out of nowhere. Because that's how this works for him. ]

[ He should just walk by. He should. But Ranma can't ignore a challenge and that is what this is, isn't it? He wonders what it's going to be. With a Carnival, it could be just about anything. But that's why he's the Heir of the Anything Goes School, he'll manage it, somehow. So he'll just go over to the guy, prideful and utterly sure of himself. ]

My finest possession? That's my pride as a martial artist! I'll put my pride on the line! So what's the contest? Anything Goes Martial Arts Juggling? Anything Goes Martial Arts Cotton Candy Eating. Anything Goes....

[ He could be at this a while. ]

[ Oh yay. A challenge. Like he's about to turn this down. And sports ball? Any sorts ball. Cake. He's got this. So Ranma is going to swagger right on over there with a cocky grin on his face, catching the ball quite skillfully. ]

Sure. What's the best prize you got? Because I'm gonna take it from you.

[ He totally spins the ball on one finger and sizes up his sitting opponent. ]

[Hmph. Of course the lion talks. She's seen so many strange things up till now that this barely registers.]

[Zecora flips up the hood of her cloak with a swift motion, shrouding most of her face in darkness. Eyes that had been blue when exposed now shine a flat, blank yellow beneath its depths. Just in case.]

I work for the carnival!
So do not make me a bellyful.
If you want a proper snack
Our food stalls have no lack!

[ ooc: action tags also welcome! ]

Mirror Maze

At first, it's fun. The room is full of mirrors, and if you look at them when you're surrounded by them, you can see your reflection double and triple and on and on until you can't even count them all anymore. Goku has never seen anything like it before. And maybe this is why he's spent far too long inside. Though if he stops to think about it, he'd wonder why he hasn't reached the exit on the other side by now. The building didn't look that big from the outside.

Also, he keeps thinking his reflections are looking back at him funny. That's just not possible though, right? They're just mirrors. They shouldn't move in a way that you haven't. Or talk. They definitely should not talk.

"Oi," one of them says in a voice that suspiciously resembles Goku's own.

"Huh?"

He glances around, but he doesn't see anyone else around him.

"Over here, idiot. You lost again?"

"....again?"

"Oh that's right, you weren't lost last time. You were abandoned." Not-Goku in the mirror smirks back at him in a not-very-nice way. Goku jumps back, startled (mostly by the talking reflection) and tries to turn the corner. That's the way out, isn't it?

Gamer's Circle

Watergun racing! He's got this. Goku has a fun streak, but he's also very competitive. He likes the kinds of games where you play against other people. Besides, this place seems to be full of colorful folks that he's never seen the likes of before.

He smacks down his ticket and takes a seat in front of a watergun.

"Hehe. Good luck!" he says cheerily to the person sitting next to him. May the best racer win!

Wildcard

[ ooc: Come at me! :) ]

"If you insist." He shrugged, reaching into his pocket to pull out a kama for the players fee. He handed the gold coin off to the creature running the booth and stepped up to the board with the metal ball in hand. But he didn't drop it in just yet.

Kerubim shook his head, talking a step back and turning to his challenger with a disappointed look. For someone with his luck, favorite by the god of chance himself, there wouldn't be any enjoyment in it

"No, this would be too easy. How about I do it blindfolded?"

That sounded like a more interesting proposition.

[He snorts.]

True, that's another good point. And something I'm familiar with.

[It's not that complicated in Shadow's perspective. He's able to harass both the players and the game runners at once by meddling with the odds even more against their favor. And he's just not interested in spending the same effort on winning something of low value... What's he supposed to do with a toy?

Or maybe the boy's just being too sour for his own good. These games are probably a good example of how people in the light world normally have their fun. And he hasn't given this carnival much chance yet to bring him that sort of feeling.]

[She shakes her head with a disappointed sigh.]

It may be fine but it wouldn't work for me. This world is not my home nor does my duty lay within it.

Kerubim looked up from his frustrated wallowing and saw someone else standing there. Or many someones. Honestly it is a mirror maze, there is no hiding here. He was little embarrassed they had seen him lose his cool, but he'd get over it. Especially if they could help him get out. With his hand still resting against the glass he turned around, squinting to try and figure out which of the reflections was the real one. Though they looked a little different. Two people?

"So are you stuck here too, or part of the act?"

[Thank the Light for other rational sentient beings. She turns to the closest tree and snaps a low hanging branch off.]

We'll mark each tree differently that we pass. If we circle around again we can assume that it can't be entirely due to us getting lost. ...Unless it's an illusion in which case we can try and deal with that in a bit.

[Jou Shan watches all of this with a somewhat startled look on her face. How can a person be an entry fee? Then again, humans are strange. And she certainly would not put it past a Mogu to try to use a sentient being as the entry fee to this strange place...]

I was trying to leave...but no, the only Pandaren I have seen is me.

Though if you needed, I could help you look?

Tauren are cow or bull people. Bipedal, hooves, two fingered hands, horns and a tail...very cowlike faces. [Goose dad. Welp, this is clearly not Azeroth, that is certain now.]

Hai, Pandaren...I do not think we are on China or Azeroth, though. [Jou please China is not a planet...] I am not quite certain how I got here. Though perhaps a bit like when we go to the Darkmoon Faire through Elwynn Forest...

[Yeah because not paying attention to danger in light of your exploring is a very Jou Shan thing to do...]

Oh, a cow or bull? Yeah we've got those in China. There's Master Storming Ox and Master Bull, and that dorkhead Kai who I beat a month ago.

Mmm, must be another world like the Spirit World come to think about it. And China's a country, not a world. This Faire sounds cool though.

[Jou Shan makes a face at that. Clearly, she has shared a mug with a dwarf and it's not specifically the beard catching that squicks her.]

That beard hair gets in everything! That and they are always "saving some for later" by hiding food or even beer in there. Some of them anyway. I like the ones who are more tidy and have carrying containers and pony kegs for their food and drink.

Either way, I am willing to share what I have!

You are welcome. [She gives him a small bow, then, before proceeding on to answer his question of her.] I do not, sir. It calls to mind a carnival where I am from, though. The Darkmoon Faire. And so I thought it was...well. Even that faire is not entirely harmless, but harmless enough, I supposed.

[Elves they have on Azeroth. Fae, not so much, though there are any number of powerful and capricious beings--most of whom the Pandaren hasn't had much truck with.]

You Have A Job

Or rather, you and she both do - and yours is getting hard to do on account of an ornery customer, whether they're audience or participant. The commotion has attracted the notice of one Fae Classic-looking young girl - her eyes glow green, she has flowers growing in her hair, and she's hovering slightly off the ground with pointed, transparent wings.

"What seems to be the problem?"

Of course, she doesn't look completely soft - now that she's come closer you might have noticed the short horns and claws, even if the latter are bright pink. Whether the pointy ears contribute to the image is a toss-up.

Alternatively, maybe you've just arrived, and you yourself want to give the staff a piece of your mind.

Wisp Wranglers

The nature of working as a Patch means Io has more time than average to be on the hunt for stray will-o-wisps. Just her luck that she'd come across one here, in one of the more-frequently-traveled areas of the grounds; she'd rather not have some magically addled guests cause an incident tonight.

Naturally, it's out of her reach; as such she's called for help, and that help is you.

"I know you had something to be doing, so let's catch this quickly."

Free Space

[ooc: Open to whatever - if it matters, she came here from a timeline where the protagonist went Meritocracy and she opted not to join him!]

[Jou has NO clue who or what she's dealing with, here. But this is very clearly the first Pandaren he's run into, as well, so...

She eyes him, and then the cask on his shoulder, and laughs merrily. Prooobably...not what he was expecting, really.]

A drinking contest! I like that! But that is hardly enough beer in there for one person, let alone a contest! And you look like a healthy drinker, too!

Clearly we need to find more beer. But I am game!

[Still might regret this later, but if she's drunk, she probably won't care quite so much.]

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

DO YOUR WORK

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Break time.

Ranma Saotome - Ranma 1/2 - New

Mirror Maze - I'm so sorry, I had to

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Leaving - I am so so so sorry for this

Do your work

I

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Son Goku | Saiyuki | Newb

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I am mostly canon blind but NOT SORRY

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Io Nitta / Devil Survivor 2 / Veteran

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