ringleaders: (firebreather)
Lost Carnival Mods ([personal profile] ringleaders) wrote in [community profile] livinglot2016-09-29 10:38 am

⇨ 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!
geho: (Default)

[personal profile] geho 2016-10-01 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[MOVING ON.]

A comrade, then?

[Whoever she was talking about.]
moodstringer: (these new flocks are)

[personal profile] moodstringer 2016-10-01 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[While she came from a world where the supernatural wasn't entirely outre, Nessa still isn't entirely used to teleporting folk. So Champloo tends to startle her when he shows up. Though it doesn't really last. She always jumps, though. And ends up laughing about it.]

Someday I'll get used to that!

[The food, she accepts gracefully--and gratefully!--dropping a smooch on the demon's cheek. He's good people, is Champloo. Even if Nessa would love to know how he finds her when she's hiding out between jobs--right now, she's sitting on the porch of her trailer in the Backyard.

Then again, he might be pinching ingredients from her herb garden. If so, it's more than a fair trade, if you ask her.]


Thanks, Champ. You're a peach.
itaidakimasu: (they shush me (shhh))

[personal profile] itaidakimasu 2016-10-01 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. My partner. I haven't seen him in a while, but he has a certain... taste for puzzles and riddles.

[Understatement of the century there.]
geho: (Default)

[personal profile] geho 2016-10-01 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I see...it's a shame he isn't here. Someone like that would surely be a lot of help.

[But wait-]

N-not that you wouldn't be either! I mean, I bet we could solve it by ourselves if we wanted to.

Walter Beck | Fable | Newbie

[personal profile] beforeweproceed 2016-10-01 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
A. Admission.

[Walter is just short of a hundred percent sure this is an illusion. He certainly hadn't heard that there was a fair going on in Bowerstone, whoever could've decided to set one up with this timing would've had to have been impossibly daft, and despite said timing... well, it looked completely untouched by the darkness. It looked like it had been dropped into the city in the middle of all the fighting after having been cut from someplace else, strange... Set pieces? Machinery? And all.

He tried to avoid going toward it - ohh, no, he wasn't falling for that - but when he turned around, the street had, apparently, filled in with trees behind him. He tried to call the Queen. No answer. Tried to call Ben, Page, Sabine. No answer from any of them, either. With the only way out of this looking to be through, he bit the proverbial bullet and started to ever-so-cautiously approach the carnival, sword drawn - and as he moved forward, the sounds of the fighting started to die.

He's at the gate now, and the fact that he's made it this far without whatever this is giving up the game and going straight to hell has him right on-edge. Still. Keep it together. Stay vigilant. Got to keep going, see where this goes...

He fishes a few coins out of his pocket with a grumble and drops them into the hands of the clerk, who tells him to enjoy.

Muffled, unhappy laugh.]
Yeah, right. You will, won't you.


B. Forest.

['Hoy! Happen to be wandering in the woods rrroughly in the vicinity of this old goat?

Much as he's bursting with a weird, dread-tinged frustration on starting to see the fair that he just left through the trees, he's kind of reassured - subconsciously a little less suspicious with regards to the reality of... all of this - on seeing someone else with interest in not being on the grounds. Hope you don't mind being singled out for possible commiseration.

He slows his trudging down to a stop within reasonable communication distance, and brings up from a groan:]


Aaand... we're right back where we started! Serves one right for even trying, doesn't it!

[Hufffff.]

Balls... [Starts to slowly shake his head. And he kind of... coughs out a wry, dragging chuckle. Looks a bit more directly at whoever's nearby.] The longer this goes on, the more I start to like the idea that I've plain gone mad.

[He kind of asks himself why he even said that, after he does, but... pfhah, he knows why he did. Just trying to beat back the serious thought that he might be stuck here, period, Crawler illusion, bizarre cursed-or-what-have-you detour away from the fight for his country and the court he serves, or otherwise.]


C. Wildcard.

[Hit me!]
anti_altruisms: (With wings unbroken.)

[personal profile] anti_altruisms 2016-10-01 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Archer.

[ His true name, as always, he keeps to himself. ]

I expect I will be seeing you again.
anti_altruisms: (Rin is always yelling.)

[personal profile] anti_altruisms 2016-10-01 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Vietnam, you think that Gilgamesh is nice. Please stahp. ]

Closer to the middle, I think. It's a large attraction.

[ He passed by it a little while ago so he leads the way. Standing outside of it, it looks...smaller than he thought it was.

He quirks a brow at his companion. ]


Ladies first?
fortuneglass: (o-o?)

card games are suffering....

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[With all the rambling and rattling going on, one would think the obvious would hit her by now.] Yeah!! It was when I was in Highs...

...Wow, now that I think about it, you almost look like you could still be that young yourself~! But that can't be right at all..!

[HAHA...HAHAHAHHAaaaa...the laughter is fading more and more, honestly, and the smile goes with it.] ...You...don't know what riding duels...

[It'll hit her in a few moments, but maybe Yugi can get a word in before the blow out.]
fortuneglass: (<o<)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[BREEEENGH. Nope, not quite. But at least the two at the chest are like minded enough to stay on the right track right?] T...Tooth thirty...?

[A peg short of a pun there, Carly!]
itaidakimasu: (clinging to a little bit of spine)

[personal profile] itaidakimasu 2016-10-01 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, if it's just a riddle I should be able to help.

[Neuro answered a bunch of those and left them lying around, bemoaning their shoddy quality. Shortly before dragging her out to hunt for a murder, usually, but it meant there were more to sift through and file away after he had left.]

We can certainly try, though!
operationbox: (solemnity)

Games

[personal profile] operationbox 2016-10-01 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[While Io had prior experience with all sorts of differently-shaped creatures even dating back to slightly before having joined the Carnival, the prospect of a dragon trying a shooting gallery is something she has still not yet had to consider. Still, it is her job to resolve this kind of problem... although her own lack of ideas that would solve it has lead to her stopping a short distance away from him.]

There must be something I can do about this...
fortuneglass: (:'3)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Where you came from..? [Fairly certain that's how it works. But she's also fairly certain of something that's much more helpful here.] But you know, it'll also be the same time that you left too, so maybe it's better to take a break before wherever you're going right?
fortuneglass: (>:[)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Even when it's something that has to get done regardless of our job..!? [She knows you aren't sorry because NO ONE SMILES WHEN THEY SAY THAT FOR REAL!!]
fortuneglass: (>3>)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
MN-

W-well of course I can, why wouldn't I!! [She chirps, apparently forgetting all about the obvious answer to the question.]
fortuneglass: (>3>)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Mhmm, of course it d- [WoaaaAAAAAH let's backtrack a minute there buddy- The feathers ruffle, and if hummingbirds can squawk, she's doing it.] I- I'm not a bird all the time!! And it's really helpful too, when you have to find new venues for this place!!
toogoodtoopure: ([85])

they truly are

[personal profile] toogoodtoopure 2016-10-01 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I did just start my senior year, but I can see how my height might confuse you...

[Even now he still got mistaken for a kid, the very reason why he wore his blazer outside of school. He smiles a little awkwardly, shifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck. Yuugi held no illusions about how young he looked, though she still sounds so surprised by it, and then the whole riding duels thing...unless that was something new Kaiba-kun was working on, he hadn't heard about it yet.]

No, but they sound fun!

[Then again a lot of things sound fun to him. He even remembers saying that about shadow games. Hah, what a laugh.]

Are they something foreign?
geho: (Default)

[personal profile] geho 2016-10-01 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
That's right! Just you wait and see; this will be our victory!

[Well, she's enthusiastic at least.]

Now let's see...what gets broken without being held?

Could it be, ah...an infant? If you leave them unattended they would get into a lot of trouble, right?

[Wrong.]
fortuneglass: credit - haptisms @ lj (OnO)

im sorry that this is your look at the future yugi..........

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
S-senior!?

You should be twice as old as me though!! [She sputters, before it finally hits her.

The feathers fall, and the shock finally fades.
] W...this place really does go through time, d...doesn't...

[Aha..........ahahahahaaa....ah...

The panic has returned.
] AHHH! I probably shouldn't be talking to you at all then! What if you remember everything and then go back, an...and it causes a paradox, or-

[Oh dear.]
itaidakimasu: (taking what I want and call it mine)

[personal profile] itaidakimasu 2016-10-01 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh... I, um, don't think 'breaking' is usually associated with babies...

[Yako taps her lips.]

Broken... broken... Well, it could be 'silence' or 'the dawn' couldn't it?
fortuneglass: (:D)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Well! [You know, she thought she was obvious at least. The bird's feathers ruffle a fair bit, and she tries to explain.] Well, if you didn't pay for everything properly, then you racked up a debt!

And a debt means you have to pay it off before you leave!

[She sounds entirely too cheerful about this.]
fragileandsoft: (okay yes wow super great wonderful)

[personal profile] fragileandsoft 2016-10-01 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. [ He scratches at his head, then grins weakly. ] That makes a lot more sense, actually. So um. You're a shapeshifter, then, right...? [ His f a v o r i t e ]
fortuneglass: (<o<)

[personal profile] fortuneglass 2016-10-01 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[Good question. There is a flurry of feathers as the hummingbird hops off, a tall bird-lady taking its place.] Um...well, it's just one change, but I guess I am then, yeah!

I can't turn into anything else though..
geho: (Default)

[personal profile] geho 2016-10-01 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, silence! That's a good one! It must be it.

[And...

...yet it isn't. The chest remains locked.
]

...I guess it could be dawn.

[Nope.]

Hrm...glass? If you let go of glass and don't hold it it'll break, right?? [Nope.] Sand? [Nah.] Ice cream? [Nadda.] The unrequited feelings of an admirer?!

[...........still no.]
toogoodtoopure: ([80])

meanwhile the mun is dying from laughing

[personal profile] toogoodtoopure 2016-10-01 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
What...twice your age?!

[The idea makes his eyes grow comically wide, spluttering as well when he does the mental math. Thirty eight or so?! Yuugi nearly chokes on his own spittake, dragging a hand over his face and then raising both in order to calm her down.]

H-hey it's okay. Don't...don't get yourself worked up over it...

[Which is easy to say when your not the one mindblown over even getting to that age. Thirty eight...he hasn't even thought that far ahead as far as his future goes.]

If it makes you feel better I've, ah, already experienced a time paradox, so...eheh...
missionfail: (blah)

[personal profile] missionfail 2016-10-01 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
No.

[Jasper breathes in slowly, a shuddering breath. That's fine. It's just a shift in her physical changes again. Gems typically use some sort of lungs in their form anyway, if only because creating sound to speak with is so much easier when working lungs through a vocal system. The act of breathing isn't unusual for her.

Feeling the inner workings of her body demand it of her is. She does her best to go on and ignore it.]


It's electricity. I'm not a storm cloud.

[Semantics. And some would beg to differ.]