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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Pidge's happy excitement at seeing one of her friends fades a little, her face flattening into a more serious line. She's been doing her best to ignore all the weirdness here, the strange carnival attendants and weird shadows that she can't seem to shake from her vision. She takes a little breath, then lowers her gaze.

"No. I haven't seen anyone since we tried to wormhole away from Zarkon. I just--I dunno, I landed and thought I'd at least look around. Glad I did--I found you, didn't I?" That gets another little grin before she shrugs.

"I hope they're all okay."

DO YOUR WORK

[ shiro has been here for a couple of weeks already, long enough to acquaint himself with the job he's meant to do. he's alone in one of the practice rooms, dressed simply in workout clothing, his human hand neatly taped. he's looking rather dubiously at a pair of white silks cascading from a sturdy metal frame. when he'd been assigned to his job, he'd found it almost laughably unsuitable - he's essentially expected to dance mid-air - but as he'd been trained, he'd found a certain logic in the pursuit. he had the strength and the flexibility to be an acrobat, it was simply a matter of shifting his frame of reference to that of entertainment rather than that of combat.

he works himself through a series of stretches, starting out easy and quickly ramping up.

that said, suitability aside, shiro still finds himself awkward in the role. he's not a performer. he's not particularly fond of showing off in front of others. working with the silks requires creativity, ingenuity: and more than that, an understanding of what an audience wants. they'd told him it was only a matter of time before he was given a partner, or two, or three. before he had to start choreographing his own routines.

for now, he focuses on shimmying up one of the silks. he pauses about halfway up, reaching out for the neighboring silk --

-- only to have it come loose from its hook. shiro makes a startled sound, fumbling for balance, fumbling to stop the silk from billowing away --

but he's ultimately unsuccessful. at least he manages to land in a crouch. the silk billows away, its length and breadth lending it unexpected heft. it'll smack straight into the face of whosoever decides to venture into the tent, effectively swathing you in ghostly white. were you simply exploring the empty practice rooms? well. sorry about that.

shiro, upon noticing what had happened, spares a moment to think rather unkind thoughts about his senior performers (because they'd likely set up the "prank"), before hastening to your side. ]

Hey. You alright?

BREAK TIME

[ after fixing up the silks and getting a few hours of practice in, shiro had decided on an early lunch. he'd found a quiet spot in the backyard and had spread out under it, his bagged lunch sitting yet-unwrapped next to him. exercise rarely left him hungry, so he's simply resting against the tree at his back, watching the bustle of people around him.

when he reaches for his water bottle, however, the flex of his arm - and the resulting constriction of his t-shirt sleeve - has him staring rather quizzically down at himself. it's true that he's felt oddly ... bulky in the days past, though it's been a gradual progression rather than a sudden one. he might have written it off as the result of his work with the silks, but there's no way that a couple of weeks as an acrobat could have bulked him up more than months of training as a paladin. in fact, it's downright impossible.

he abandons his water bottle, arms held out straight before him. he flexes both arms, first the biceps, then his forearms. there's an obvious difference from what he used to be - and it's not only his muscle mass. his pants are shorter than they used to be, too.

not only that - his galra arm has definitely grown to accommodate the difference in his human arm. normally he'd write that off as galran engineering, but now he's not so sure. is this place changing him, as he's seen so many of the others changed? is that even possible?

while he's deep in his contemplations, you might wander into the backyard to the sight of a young man frowning down at his own arms as he continues to flex. ]

WILD CARD

[ Do your worst! ]

[Spyro snorts and gives his tail a little flick.] Of course I’m a dragon, you know of some other kind of creature with wings and horns like these?

[He’s just giving Joker a hard time but also, c’mon man. What else would he be.]

Woah!

[Startled, Spyro leans back a little at the sudden appearance. He’s not offended by the question though; he actually gets this kind of thing a lot, even back in his own world.]

Sure am. [He cocks his head.] Why, who wants to know?

The sarcasm soared right over Gottlieb's powdered wig covered head, "For the most part. If it's a cloudy day, I can go outside then! It really is a bother. My town has a very lovely tavern, but otherwise not much going on once the sun goes down."

He opened his mouth to casually point out his fangs, as if he was sharing something mundane, "I luckily have friends in town who help me out when it comes to the whole blood situation ... oh no! That is a problem, isn't it?"

His expression darkened, "I am glad I had a late lunch, but that can only possibly last me a day or so... oh dear."

Emil comes to an abrupt halt, bony hands held out in a futile attempt to stop what had already happened. Oops. Oh, no. He was going to get in so much trouble...

"I-it's okay! Just stay calm!" He fluttered anxiously, keeping a bit of a distance between himself and the girl in case she panicked but wanting to be close enough to help all the same. "It'll pass, but you might want to sit down."

[The two tumble together with an alarmed squawk from Emil at least, and in a moment he's back up, hovering a foot or two off the ground, looking alarmed.]

Whoa, sorry! I'm really sorry! You're not hurt, are you?

Nyeh?

[The squint intensifies, though now it's less out of suspicion and more out of curiosity. YUP. PERFECTLY NORMAL. So normal that Peridot totally isn't at all considering breaking her personal rule of not stepping within Jasper's reach in order to take a peek at what those papers are.]

Studying what?

"Go home!"

Someone is making some noise, it seems.

There's a rushing scuffle of paws on leaves, a thump, and a snarl.

"Get down from there and go home! I know you understand me!"

Nightfall is stalking in frustrated circles under a tree. She's going into her second year as part of the carnival and has a few more obvious changes: the black wolf is larger than her kind have any right to be, for one, and acid green fae marks shift across the fur of her shoulders as she paces.

Above her head, perched on a branch of the tree, is one of the Ringmaster's will o' wisps. It glows with perfect innocence as Nightfall takes another flying leap, trying and failing to either reach the branch or scare it down.

"Stop mocking me!"

It doesn't stop mocking her.

[The emphasis on the word gift hits Kadin harder than it probably should have. No one has ever described him that way and actually meant it. He has no real reason to believe this man is mocking him, but that phrasing has him on edge. On top of that, he feels scrutinized. Feeding this way has been a shameful, vulnerable process for him nearly all his life and he's not eager to have an audience.

The only tell he gives that this is making him uncomfortable is the slight hesitation before he smiles again and nods.]

Very well.

[As he unhinges his jaw and works on engulfing the goat's head he focuses on his hunger, trying to blot out the unfortunate taste and the almost itching feeling of someone watching him.]

Ohhh...

_{[So that's what he meant. Well, she gets it now but her point still stands!]}

I think everyone has a scary side to them though...but you don't seem to be evil villain scary!

Who, me? No, I was just...

[He twiddles his fingers anxiously, causing them to clack together. ]

Um... can I help you?

That's Shiro's cue, rung clear as a bell: a moment for reassurance, leadership, team trust. Unfortunately, they're two paladins out of five, and what Pidge's actually landed today is the castle nominee for Most Likely Not To Notice A Bonding Moment Because He's Still On The Training Deck.

"I'm sure they're fine." One beat passes in silence, and two, five, six. Don't fail here. Keith shifts his weight, palms the back of his head; the mullet, offended, springs back up after his hand falls away. As if to shake off the awkwardness of it, he shrugs hard. "But we'll probably be hearing about it from Hunk for the next year."

Hunk, who's found a lot of footing since they careened headlong into a space war, but is still liable to dwell on little things like we fell through a wormhole into crazy distant parts of the universe! we're probably still being hunted by Zarkon's entire empire! you wouldn't believe what i had to eat before we all got back together! how's nobody else freaking out about this? Now there's something to look forward to at the reunion.

Keith grimaces.

Oh sure, of course!

[He's quick to flit up just a bit past Psi, directing traffic to one side or the other with apologies.]

This thing is huge! Is it another decoration? A piece of a new ride? Do you need and help installing it?

[[OOC - Alright so the bird is in her shadow but... visual ref for you!]

[Scout that she is, the most fighting Carly ever really saw was during the Vampire War; a war that Shen no doubt had his own role in, as a mercenary. How well he took the whole matter of the Nightrider's scouts and mercs being followed back home by vampires is a mystery to her however.

Actually there's a lot about Shen that's sort of a mystery. But boy is watching him practice with that sword neat! Even her shadow is watching right now, and its 'eyes' track the blade with far greater skill than Carly's own.]

"It's alright, I..."

Yukine's arms waved, with a surprisingly loss of balance she didn't anticipate, nor the fear anyone would have normally felt at a living skeleton. One good thing beer googles have done for anyone, really.

"I don't know if I have taken anything wrong.. or maybe the place isn't too ventilated..." She stepped back feeling awkward. And per Emile's suggestion, sitting down a little too suddenly, as her eyes continued looking up.

"I just keep seeing lights above..." Her hands try to grasp those lights. And as they try to move away, the chair she sat on wobbles as she tries standing up again, following them... "Were you looking for them...?"

That Shiro isn't there to step in and reassure everyone, to bring together the little team (the little family) that had sprung out of their short time as Voltron just seems to punctuate the awkward beats that follow as the conversation hangs up. Pidge isn't anymore sure than Keith on what to say here, so she settles for giving a sharp little nervous beat of laughter at Keith's words about Hunk.

"Yeah. And he'll go right back to complaining about the goop, too." It's a comforting thought. Most people wouldn't consider being recruited into a war for the fate of the universe a 'small thing' but hey. She notices Keith's expression. Hesitates. She's not really a touchy person and she knows Keith isn't either, but she does stand a little closer.

"We'll make it okay. I'm still trying to figure out this weird carnival, though."

Wow, that was a long name! Fortunately, Goku was pretty sure he caught enough of it...

"Nice to meetcha too! I didn't even know this whole thing was out here. I should probably head back soon, but...hehe."

He got a little distracted by all the good smelling food. Plus, the games looked like lots of fun.

"Yup. I'm ready."

The guy running the game -- Goku assumed it was a guy anyway -- lifted a small hammer with a smokey looking hand and brought it down over a bell.

Ding!

And the race was on. Music started playing to a thundering beat, to encourage them to go faster and faster. Goku took aim and pressed the trigger. Water shot out with force, faster than he expected.

"Whoa!"

[He's disappointed, but only barely, and he keeps it from showing in his expression. He had always hoped that meeting someone else like him would mean learning more about his origins. Or maybe getting advice from someone who had more than trial and error to teach them how to clean their scales. He's always wanted to talk with someone who knew more about his body than he did, but nevertheless this woman presents a wonderful opportunity. If she can't be the mentor he's always hoped he could have, he could be the mentor that she might be wishing for too. No matter how many times he's thought about it, he can't really imagine what it would be like to suddenly have legs, so changing in the other direction must have been pretty alarming as well.

The laugh reassures him that he hasn't offended her by staring, so he looks back up to her face with a sheepish sort of smile.]

As far as I know, yes. Have you had any trouble adjusting?

Of course it's useful. [Jasper huffs.] I wouldn't be learning it if it wasn't.

[Does she look like the sort of person who'd waste her time with spells that were all for show? Her time is very important, she'll have you know.]

But I don't need your compliments.

[ normally, it would take izaya a total of a day to get to know everything he needs to know about a certain place. a day and a half, generously.

but here, there's been no computer to help out, and the proverbial tools of his disposal had been ripped rudely out from under him, replaced instead by ludicrous notions of debt and faery dust. or something. the former was the most insulting in ways izaya would never admit out loud - people usually owed him, you see.

at least the carnival knew what job to give him - or rather, what job he sweet-talked himself into. acquisitioner did sound marginally better than simply conman, but he wasn't about to become anything with the job description being 'supervisor' in it; he did that on his own time, and for the moment being, it felt as though it would be too much trouble to aim for a higher position too fast. it might make others suspicious, though that might also be giving everyone too much credit.

he was feeling things out, after all because let's face it -

- he was in the world of faeries, and in that, his experience was brutally limited to a single headless one.

but fortunately, there were plenty of people here - humans, for now. which meant it was above necessity to recognize as many faces as possible. for so many different reasons all of which would mainly converge back to a single, very simple one - it would benefit him.

so he's taken to walking around the site, smooth steps in dark clothing with a slight spring, before his eyes catch something that's equal parts peculiar, and amusing.

which is why he approaches, feline smirk and narrowed eyes, even if his tone is amiable. ] Useful things, aren't they.

[ arms, he means.

haha. ]

[As good at Kadin is at concealing his thoughts and emotions, as practiced as he is at maintaining a demure smile against all odds, as often as he's had to dodge questions about injuries he's gotten, he's not very good at outright lying. Especially not after having been caught red handed and while mildly delirious from hunger.]

He was attacking one of the chickens. I had to do something.

[To his credit, he does say it with a straight face.]

[ Pidge has been wandering the carnival grounds, mostly content to spend a few tickets and ponder why the heck this place was so weird. Still, when you're used to aliens, it's not that bad. As long as you inore the creepy, crawly sensation that trickles up your spine when some of them look at you, right? She wriggles between two tents, dodging ropes and wires as she emerges into a hidden space, probably for employees only. That hasn't stopped her before, though!

She skids to a stop after a brief moment at the sight of Shiro sitting there and--flexing? Okay, first off Shiro was here, great! So why was he sitting there being weird? She takes a few steps towards him, pauses. ]

Shiro?

[Carly made her first contract for Love. But that didn't mean that there weren't more than a few things that could catch her eye still-and Carly, being Carly...] A-Ahh-

[Tended to not act on it.

Ever.

She would blush, stare, and eventually leave.

Right now she's in the blushing stage; she was just flying, really. Hovering around in her budgie-sized hummingbird shape, perching on a branch for a quick breather from all the darting around after wisps and things.

And now there's a guy in tight clothing around her age sitting below her. Flexing.

Flexing a lot.

So Shiro, needless to say, might just catch a black and orange hummingbird gawking from above. There's certainly some odd stammering coming from up there!]

It's a remark to stir a real look. He'd skimmed the edge of the woods for the paths that had lured him forward, rounded the perimeter of the lurid little fair (twice!) -- but for the first time since he'd woken to a strange, bristling forest at his back, Keith looks at the actual carnival. Here a reeling shadow, there a prize hazy beneath a stagelight, but -

". . . not a lot of people, is there." And then, because some thoughts roll from mind to tongue in an unbroken circuit -- his brows twitch. "And they look pretty -- human."

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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takashi "shiro" shirogane | voltron | newbie

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I'm excited!! :D

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Trying To Leaf

I have no appropriate icon for this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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BREAK TIME one prophecy obsessed bird to another-

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break time; hah

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SPACE DAD

BREAK TIME oh my god shiro do you realize what kind of power you have

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