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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It's not a lie! It's true!

_{[Out puff her cheeks as she stomps her foot down. The nerve of this guy! Didn't he watch the news? What had happened with Squishy had been huge!]}

They're still fixing Lumiose city and my brother's gym because Squishy broke things so badly!

Edited 2016-10-02 16:55 (UTC)

Names! Oh, she should introduce herself shouldn't she. Pidge plopped down to sit next to Gottlieb. She hesitated, then offered her hand out to Gottlieb.

"I'm Pidge. And I hope so. I got split up from my friends right before this, though. Hopefully they'll come and find me if I can't get ou tthere to find them..."

"Yeah, they aren't my thing either," Pidge admits with a little grin. "I just thought I'd something to kill some time, try to think about what this carnival is doing here." She picks out a trinket for her prize, then half-turns so she can face Yuugi.

"I always thought these things were rigged."

Gottlieb took the hand daintily, giving it a polite shake.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Pidge, in spite of the circumstances. I am sure my friends in town will be worried sick. They do tend to dote on me. I suppose it's not without reason, considering my past foibles."

He looked up to the sky, "... although, if they did come, would they be stuck as well? That would be frightful. They haven't the time to spare that I do."

_{[She's about to say that her parents aren't here, nor is her brother, who was the one charged with looking after her in the first place, but when his attention shifts to Dedenne she can't help but be distracted too.]}

Hm? Oh! This is Dedenne! _{[The little mouse Pokemon squeaks its name happily, both in greeting and in thanks for the compliment. Plucking him from her hair she holds him in her arms instead so he can get a better look at him.]}

He's super cute, right? _{[Shockingly cute, even.]} Ah, your plushie is cute too! It kinda looks like a rainbow colored chimchar or an aipom...

[It must be a costume, right? Or some kind of elaborate puppet? Goodness, the entertainers here have some elaborate things! This odd little mascot looks so nervous, too. Is it an act, or do they really need help?]

Hello! You seen upset. Is everything all right?

You Lucky Duck
Game Corner

Amidst all the games that actually involve some elements of skill there sits one carnival game that doesn't bother to hide the fact that it's entirely based on luck. If you leave the ring toss both behind you, ignore the heavy milk bottles and the fake shooting range you'll soon come upon a game titled nothing other than "Lucky Duck." The booth proffers up a small contingent of rubber ducks, all with smiling beaks and joyful eyes. They are perpetually happy to wade in circle around and around. The game is simple, pick a duck and look at it's bottom side. There a number will be written, ranging from zero to five. Each number corresponds to a different group of prizes.

A zero earns you nothing, don't even bother trying if you're cursed with bad luck, you'll never get anything but. A one will earn you something small, useless, a pity prize. A two is mildly better, a three is where the things you might actually want live. A three will also earn you this option, give up your prize and try again for a four or a five. Fours are the best you can hope for really, the big toys, or some small useful trinket perhaps with a one time magic use. There's only ever one five, and the corresponding prize, well, it's a mystery, but it's guaranteed to be something amazing.

For as simple a game as it is, it's the one that's always intrigued the Ψiioniic the most. He is determined to get mystery duck number five sometime before he leaves the carnival. If he's only tried once a night the entire time he's been here he's still tried too many times. He's been here for nearly three years now, and he has the changes to show for it. His eyes number four instead of the usual two. His skin is speckled with glowing purple spots and short antennae can be seen sprouting from his hair in between his horns. He studies the ducks intensely, the purple spots on his skin dimming and glowing brightly again in a slow and steady pattern as he thinks. He's waiting, for just the right moment to strike. Tonight he'll get it for sure, the mysterious number five.

You Lunky Druck
Willfull Wisps

He's trying his very best to catch these damn things without touching them. He glows a dim shade of purple as he flits around the carnival looking for the small beasts, but he soon discovers finding them isn't really the problem. The appear and vanish in a flash of light, it's not hard to spot the little buggers when they take form. It's actually catching the damn things that's proving difficult. The Ψiioniic isn't called such because of his lack of ability, but holding onto these things telekinetically feels like trying to hold smoke with your bare hands. It's a study in patience and the Ψiioniic has never been a very patient troll.

He swears loudly as another wisp breaks free from his grasp and flits off. His freckles glow a dangerous shade of red. He's not usually one to get angry, but tonight hunting down these wisps, he's definitely starting to loose his temper. It doesn't help of course that simply being near the damn things is disorienting as fuck. It makes him even more unfocused, which means he does an even worse job the next time he tries to catch one. Eventually the flash of his psionics begins to desynchronize, shifting from violet in color to alternating flashes of red and blue. That just pissess him off even more. He cusses again, this time in his own troll language instead of the fae speech he's grown accustomed too. He probably sounds like a very angry cicada and a cricket having a fight to the death. Dare ye approach?

Break(?) Time
C A T A R O T

[The strange looking troll approaches, a very fluffy very grumpy looking dilute calico perched on his shoulders.]

You know, my cat can see the future.

[Respond? Y/N]

Riddle Me This (Batman)!
Locked Chests

Of course a lot of people are intrigued by and examining the chests, hoping to find one with a riddle they can actually solve. The Ψiioniic is going about his selection process in a bit of a different manner. He's crouched down, wandering from chest to chest with his cat held out in front of him. Carefully he pushes her forwards to sniff and examine the containers, waiting to see how she'll respond before even reading the riddle.

"Come on Dee. Which one's got the big money?"

Edited 2016-10-02 17:21 (UTC)

Ah, is that it?

[ People tend to be hard pressed to tell anything he's thinking, something he prefers. In this case, however, he'll at least shed some light. ]

That would be because I'm here on business. I'm afraid fun doesn't quite fit into this evening.

[He presses the button on the pokeball, releasing his Rhydon. It gives a loud roar before looking around, confused.]

Gym? Are you saying your brother's a gym leader?

Uwaa! A Rhydon!

_{[Sorry Blue, give her a moment she's excited. So much so that she moves up to pet it on its nose. Restraint isn't something she has much of when it comes to Pokemon.]}

Huh? Yeah, he is. He's Lumiose city's gym leader.

[ It's an effort not to stare while being asked by a talking bear if he's a philosopher. The source is so bizarre, though the question is an amusing one, enough that he'll actually smile a crooked sort of smile. ]

No, far from it. I imagine I've only picked up some sayings from how much time I spend around magicians. [ Who are like to think themselves clever and full of their own philosophy. ] The attractions...?

[ He'll look back towards the carnival, his smile proving to be short-lived when he eyes the ferris wheel and the coaster. Those are strange to him, too. Along with the lights and just about everything! One would thing that would scare more people off and yet-- ]

Those are certainly unique.

Walter! There you are!

[The princess pushed her way past a tree bough, hurrying forward to meet her mentor.]

You ran off so fast I thought I'd lose you entirely. I almost did. Did you know there was a carnival going on out here? I thought Mourningwood was too uninhabited for that sort of thing.

Honestly, it's probably inevitable that if there's someone making a big production of something, Miko is going to end up kind of gravitating toward them... and in this case, she arrives just in time to narrowly avoid getting a rubber ball to the face.

She freezes for a moment, blinking, before looking over her shoulder, where the ball has crashed into another booth... then she spins to face Natsu again, her grin far too wide for someone who just nearly got her head taken off.

"Dude! That was totally bad-a! How fast d'you think that thing was going?"

[That isn't saying much...] Medium rare is still not well done, but I take your meaning. Are you prepared for the crowds?

[Rhydon leans down to inspect the girl, giving her a thorough sniffing. It's been awhile since its been out and not been in a battle.]

What's his name?

Clemont.

_{[No point in mentioning that Clemont wasn't really at his gym battling very much and instead built a robot to do said task for him, at least for a period of time. Still, her brother's not to be underestimated!

That said, her attention is completely overtaken by the Pokemon before her as she rubs its head gently, giggling.]}

[Bonnie isn't the only one whose attention was drawn by the huge tent. Miko ducks into it not long after, just as immediately delighted by the sheer size of it.]

Oh, sweet!

[She catches sight of the girl on the stage, and her grin widens as she hears the last bits of what Bonnie is saying.] No harm in trying it out sometime, right?

Edited (crud sorry posted too early) 2016-10-02 19:07 (UTC)

[Rhydon enjoys the attention, a happy rumbling forming deep in its throat.

As for Blue, he's not exactly sure of the names of gym leaders from other regions, so he really has no reason to doubt Bonnie's claim.]

And what type does he specialize in?

"Why don't I just give you a hand. It will go much quicker."

He set his things down on and nearby crate and walked over to Ginko, appraising the situation. Ginko seemed to have a decent grip on the top half of it, which was good since Kerubim wouldn't be able to help much given Ginko's height. Once he had a strategy in mind he moved quickly, grabbing hold of the beast's thrashing tail and wrestling it into a more manageable loop and pinning it under his arm.

With the tail more or less dealt with, he slipped in front of Ginko and grabbed the rodent from beneath. He hoisted it above it's head, using his claws to help keep hold of it and making it much harder for the thing to squirm.
"I suppose this beast goes into that enclosure over there?" He nodded in the direction of the nearest pen.

Electric! He probably knows everything about electric Pokemon!

_{[Ah, what a happy Rhydon. Dedenne seems to want to investigate too, scrambling down to perch atop the other Pokemon's head to say hello.]}

ADMISSION FEES

[ Anything of value is exactly what Dave doesn't have. He searched his sylladex for anything that might be remotely interesting. Can he tempt the admissioner with a jar full of fluid that contains some grim looking thing floating on the bottom? By the look of their face, Dave is going to say no. He looked through the rest of his useless shit, and either he wanted to hold on to that, or that was equally as useless. Ugh, definitely not that.

There was nothing to it then. This could only be solved one way.

He turned to the person standing behind him in line and shoved the questionable looking jar into their hands. ]

Don't bother saving my spot. Time to split like Bradgelina, you feel me?

MIRROR MAZE

[ This is a carnival. Shit is suppose to be fun. Not like Dave could possibly know for sure, though. Bro would never bring him some place as campy and unironic as this dump. He's seen enough TV to know how this song and dance goes, so he knows for certain that his reflection should be all distorted and humorous in the way anyone without a brain should find hilarious. But that's not what he finds in his reflection. Instead he sees one version of himself with a slitted throat, another with his chest ran through. They're stretching, yawning, one scratching his nose. They seem oblivious to the fact that they should be in fact dead.

The real Dave is standing with his arms crossed, face a little pale, but otherwise not reacting. ]

Now that's just sad. If this is all this place has to offer I'm thinking I'm due a refund on that ticket I definitely didn't pay for.

WILDCARD

[ Anything at all. I'm still voice testing so hit me up with random out of left field stuff. It will be good for me. ]

[Zecora gets her balance and her composure back quickly. A pony might paw at the ground nervously here... but she's a zebra. She contents herself with a flick of the tail.]

[Said tail, incidentally, moves more like molten silver or steel than hair. Just one more quirk to go along with her shimmering stripes.]

While those who come here often change
So much, so quickly? That is strange.

I just said you have time though, didn't I!? [Maybe that bit didn't come out clear enough?] She'd bring you back to the exact moment! It's like you never even left!

[As for how long, the girl hums a bit, tapping her fingers together.] Umm...normally when I get my contract renewed it comes to...one year!
But aaaaAHHH! Like I said she brings you to the same minute you left so it's fine!!

They stole Yuusei's card but not Jacks..!? [THINGS ARE FEELING PRETTY SIDEWAYS HERE!!

But at the end of the day, she needs to sigh. None of this is making much sense at all, and she's starting to feel like getting to the bottom of this is just going to make things more confused and...

There are better things to talk about. Probably.] Haaaaaaaahhhh I guess if it all went back in time then I'll never find out about it either way...

_{[Attention diverted, Bonnie scrambles to her feet to get a better look at the girl who's called out to her, Dedenne moving to her shoulder while she does so.]}

Ummm...maybe.

_{[There wasn't any harm, but she doesn't think she'd be very good. Not like Serena, anyway.]}

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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Sad skeleton boy :(

The Psiioniic :: Homestuck :: Veteran (Supervisor)

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Forest

GAME ON

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TENT

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Dave Strider | Homestuck | Newbie

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