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!

Threaded | Flat

♠ do your work

[For his routine, the magician that's been performing for the evening. Every bit of sleight of hand has been pulled; colorful handkerchiefs tied together pulled seemingly from no where, sawing an assistant seemingly in half, and pulling a critter from a hat -- though no his own.

But his heart is always with the cards.

A deck is in his hand, and he steps casually into the audience, walking in complete sureness of himself.

Until he spots you, and he smiles, his eyes obscured by the shadow of his hat. He fans out the cards and says:]

Pick a card, sweetheart.

♦ break time

[Away from the carnival in the yard, a blanket has been rolled out and Twisted Fate, it seems, has taken to napping. His fingers are folded together, his hat over his face, and he's snoozing.

Or so it seems.

As you get closer, Twisted Fate tips his hat up from his face, and he smiles sharply.]

Somethin' I can help you with, friend?

♣ wild card
[Choose your own adventure!]

"BREAK" TIME

Roman was always brains, not brawn and mucking stalls, hauling wheelbarrows of wood shavings, holding ladders, and heavy buckets of whatever it was that the weird toybox of creatures ate had plumb tuckered him out. And it was only his third day on the job!

It wasn't technically break time yet, but Roman more or less lived by squeezing in, out of, and around technicalities. The little demon was curled up not unlike a cat on top of a wheeled popcorn stand. Surely nobody would think to look UP for somebody with wings so small he could hardly fly.

Roman slept ungracefully, acne-scarred face smushed against the wagon's top, glasses askew, long forked tongue all but hanging out. When he'd settled to nap, he'd carefully coiled his tail up underneath him, but slowly and surly it unfurled and flopped over one side of the cart's decorative top.

DO YOUR WORK

"Wow, you did it, good job," said Roman with all the enthusiasm of someone congratulating another person on taking a shit. He handed over the colorful bear to the patron and moved his eyes up to greet the next person in line. Were they a legit customer? Were they a shil? He didn't know or care. Nothing had made him care. Yet.

"Roll up, roll up, hit a balloon, win a prize."

WILD CARD

Be my guest! He does lots of dogsbody work around the circus and can be found doing (or avoiding doing) a great number of things! He also loves junkfood so it's possible to find him hanging around the concessions.

((OOC: Will reply in prose or brackets, your choice!))

Edited 2016-10-22 08:57 (UTC)

a. admission fees

[She's four and a half feet tall, but you wouldn't know it by the way she slouches. This girl's gnarled hunch and tangle of white hair make her look like the littlest old lady one could find, except for the youth of her face. But that youthful face is sour—not openly resentful, maybe a little too passive aggressive for that, but she looks unamused and unwilling to cooperate. There's something stern about her, as if anyone she lays eyes on is liable to hear a very detailed personal criticism.]

But it's stupid, [she says to the ticketmaster, wobbling a bit on her twig-like legs.] If it's stupid, I shouldn't have to pay to get in.

[Her voice is quite soft, almost cottony, but she really does sound critical.]

b. trying to leaf

[Whoever you are—whether you're trying to get home yourself, or whether you're just watching the new folk scurry around in the woods—the looming trees are rustling with a wind that isn't present. The air is mostly still, but the leaves are going wild: here and there, a tree limb will shake, and leaves and maybe odd fruit fall down to the ground. It's eerie, and the atmosphere is made even worse when some birds are disturbed from their sleep and shoot out of the tree in a panic.

...

Momentarily, it grows quiet, trees gone still, and then...

A very small girl pops out of some leaves. Her face is calm and mostly smooth, aside from the slight wrinkle of her nose, and her long white hair sways in the air as her body hangs from a branch.]

An odd smell around here, [she says,] don't you think.

Edited 2016-10-24 17:20 (UTC)

ADMISSION FEES

Seariadn wasn't certain how he got to this place, but he was confused as all heck. Hadn't he last been in an old warehouse? What was going on? At least the place had enough odd looking things around that a huge, blue, naga shaped, plush toy didn't seem to be too out of place... but still.

He looked down at the few small papers and id cards he had in his hands, and sighed. All he had were his identity cards and papers 'proving' he was safe... He didn't have anything to pay with for admission.

GAMERS CIRCLE

The place sure seemed lively, even if Seariadn wasn't so sure about being out in the open as he was. Still, there were enough large toys being given out at the stalls that he didn't feel too bad about just finding a spot in a corner and curling up to watch the goings on of the people around him.

Maybe he wouldn't freak people out here... or at least not so long as they thought he was just a display toy, or one left behind at least.

Admission Fees

[There's a holdup in the line. Or rather, another holdup. The guy at the front of the line, who frankly looks like he's already spent a little long at the carnival by the scales on his face, is just looking down at the teller's hand, as if he's uncertain what to do. Finally, one of the snakes wrapped around his body hisses, and he speaks up, in a surprisingly feminine voice.]

"We don't have any!"

[He continues, in a quieter, more masculine voice,]

"... Says Emily."

[Give him a hand?]

Gamer's Circle

[This place... is almost reminiscent of home. The bustle, the attractions, all of that. However, Snake's not really sure what to make of the games. It's not something he's got experience with, really. Indeed, it's a whole new experience, and one that he's not completely positive how to approach.

That's why he's watching you. From the corner behind the booth. Hopefully that doesn't throw you off your game, or your job, or whatever it is you're trying to do.]

Mirror Maze

Hey...

[The catgirl taps at a mirror with one claw, not hard enough to scratch but definitely with some force behind her. Opposite her, her reflection smirks at her condescendingly as it meets her claw with its own.]

What kind of funhouse mirror is this anyway? And how many are there? I swear I should have been out of here by now.

[Turning her back on the reflection, she leans against it, the guitar slung over her back like a sword pressing against her shoulder blades as she taps a finger against her lips.]

There must be a trick to it.

Trying to Leaf

[One moment, the forest is quiet.]

[The next, music rolls out of it, sounding very much like a full orchestra has appeared out of nowhere to perform where absolutely no one can see them. A voice rolls out over the trees in song that fills every particle in the air with energy and vibration.]

Bring me around,
let the night pass by.
Lost in the dark,
caught wondering why.
Searching for the only place I've ever known...

So bring me home.

[The last word lingers in the air atop the fading sounds of violins as Ash steps out of the woods, her hands spread wide and her head tipped back. As the last of the word curls out from between her lips, the rest of the music all dies out as well, leaving silence in its wake.]

[Straightening her neck, she opens her eyes, and the confident smile on her face lasts for one second only before she focuses on the full-sized gingerbread house which has appeared quite literally out of nowhere.]

Oh come on! That's not even -- that's not right! [She gestures with both hands at it, palm-up, as if inviting the entire universe to observe how ridiculous this is. Petulantly stomping a foot, she folds her arms and tucks a hand against her cheek as her tail curls around her leg.]

Was I out of genre? Or did the near-rhyme spoil it?

A. Admission Fees

[So! The thing is, Mettaton has money with him. He's a star of the highest degree. He be ballin'.

But! When he's told that the entry fee is simply anything of value? Well, ha-ha, he'll keep his cash to himself and roll out a concert poster and sign it with a declaration and a flourish! Promo material might be less reliably versatile as a universal thing to always have on hand, but - ha-ha, it's always got its value nonetheless.

And Mettaton strides with his chin up into the fairgrounds feeling rather satisfied with himself for having entered on one, and, ah, is going to ride that high.

If he thinks you even might have seen him enter the carnival with an autograph poster, he'll turn to you with an unrolled spare poster held in the air in one hand and the other hand out toward you and facing upward.]

And would you care for an autograph, my dear? I'll be giving out another twenty-five MTT autographs for free! Yes, free - while poster supplies for tonight last!

[Because, you know, that's the number he happens to... have on him for tonight alone.]

B. Desperately Seeking Sign-On

[So.

He's caught wind.

Caught wind of the fact that the carnival is looking for new employees.

And he, keen as he ever was to expand the scope and size of his fanbase, has, ah-ha, been mmmost intrigued by the idea of joining the troupe. Becoming a headlining act in no terribly long amount of time, surely (whatever the frig they'd actually have him do - he'll think about particulars when he's got them)!

That in mind, he hasn't been messing around at all in giving the carnival a look. Rather, he's been looking around for anyone who seems to be an employee, be they a security worker or a performer wrapping up a quick show or musical performance for the guest. Heck, they don't even need to be an official employee - if you look like you're helping out or performing on any level, if you walk by him, you might well catch 'im waving you over smoooooothly, with a raised brow and a voice made breathy and/or inflected in just the right places, by his mental estimation!]

Oooh. Pa~ardon me, darling!

But! Would you happen to know where one should go from here to speak to the Ringmaster of this most quaintly charming of circuses?

Believe me and believe me truly, as a man who very well knows showbiz, I understand if she's a ve-e-ery busy woman, but nonetheless! I'd like to discuss a... business arrangement that should be of value to both involved.]

[Which is to say: he wants to join and he's sure that he, being freaking Mettaton, ought to draw crowds galore if he's added to the carnival's performance roster. The fact that reputation and track record don't exactly mean much across worlds kinda-latently hits him, but at the same time, it'll need time to properly sink in.]

C. Wildcard

[Have any ideas that don't fit either of these? Hit me with 'em!]

A. Admission Fees... Unpaid!

[Isn't real. Can't be. Can't be, can't be, can't be, not that easy.

He's still in the caves. He knows that.

And knowing that he can't be seeing anything that he's actually seeing, Josh felt his heart start to flutter and sickly palpitate as soon as he started seeing the woods. He gulped, and out from that popped a stupid-sounding "oh, no...!" as he braced himself for whatever these... woods... had to offer.

They didn't look like Blackwood's, and the clearer that got, the quicker and more sharply his heart started to beat, the wider his eyes got, the more frequently he started to shake his head, thickly yet non-verbally repeat to himself ahh, no. Ahh, no, ahh, no...!

When he came to a god-damn circus... He was genuinely not sure whether to be less or more afraid, and for what reason. It's not like he hadn't been to one before. He'd been to plenty - with his sisters, no less. But... none like this, and why would his imagination make one up now, of all things...?

He ended up ambling right up to it in a cold vacuum of helpless, fearful confusion. Right up to the gates, surrounded by people who looked as unfamiliar as the premises themselves did. He wandered into a line, the murmurs of ohh, no, ohh, no...! continuing in his head - up until the admissions clerk asked him to pay a fine - anything of value.

He -- paused.

Blinked.

Blinked and stared like a deer in the headlights.]

-- I-I, I, I got nothing -- ... [Jerkily shook his head a couple of times.] I -- I got n -- no...

[But. Luck or the baffling convenience of imagined contrivance jumps in right there - as someone or something strikes up some sort of impatient callout behind him.

He freezes. Hard. Sharp. Another icicle of dread -- before he realizes that the clerk is looking at whoever it was standing behind him, starting to say something. And something hot in his head kicks him into frantic motion as if with a couple of spurs bounced into the frontal sides of his brain.

He presses into the sides of the line - never mind that he was technically in the front of it - and stumbled into the carnival grounds, not facing away from the admission booth in case whoever or whatever's manning it realizes he's just pushed past the lines (it's gonna get him, it's gonna change, it's all gonna go wrong, fuck, what has he done, this is where it goes bad, it's gonna get him)...!

It's a few meters past the gates that he'll either stumble straight into someone else or hear them coming up behind him, and whip around hard with a sharp, cut-off shout of alarm.]

B. Wildcard

[Hit me with anything else at all you'd like to try out!]

[DO YOUR WORK...PATCH PATROL]

[Despite being a Veteran, Gongenzaka feels almost as if he is a newcomer once more. He's been awake for a couple of weeks, by now-weeks spent borrowing t-shirts while he gets proper clothes made and fitted for the body he now has, replacing a sash and headband so treasured he almost wonders if a year more of training in return for having them restored wouldn't be worth it (it is hard, very hard, considering what he has Seen)...even the trailers are a struggle for the moment, and it's taken these few weeks alone just to master walking.

That's what happens when someone wakes up with four legs instead of two.

Even so-he's doing his job, his last job, as best he can manage despite now bearing the imposing figure of something that typically wishes to kill you. And if you seem to be starting a fight or getting into some kind of argument...]

-MMm-HMM!

[THERE HE IS...]

I, the man Gongenzaka, see there may be a disagreement here... ...but that is no reason to grow violent..!

Now...

What upsets you!

[Translation: 'what seems to be the problem here buddy']

[BREAK TIME (Crossover potential for Newbie Forest prompts!)]

[For Gongenzaka, there are no TRUE breaks-not even when it looks like one. With the way he's sitting, forelegs crossed and hands held together, a few might recognize just what he's doing.

Others might just assume he's fallen asleep in the woods, and that's Never a good idea, probably.]

do your work

[When is Terra not working?

But that's the thing about being on patrol. Whether you liked it or not, somehow you were always working. Which suited Terra just fine, considering he liked keeping himself busy when he wasn't training. And considering his body has been revived (when he doesn't believe he deserves it), as soon as he's able to he's back out and about, even while he's still feeling a little stiff and sore.

Hooves dig into the dirt as he stands his ground, stubborn as always, arms crossed as he approaches the situation with a raised eyebrow. There's never a fun time to be called up, especially when it comes to intimidating people, and considering how bulky his form has gotten in the last couple of years, it's not impossible, even when he's not really doing anything except for leaning against the attraction.

Except then he speaks, golden eyes flicking from customer to fellow carnie under white hair.]

Care to run that by me again?

break time (that's not a break, Terra)

[There's no such thing as a break to Terra. There never has been and never will be. Considering he has, just recently, been revived, that just means that there's more to do than can ever be done (~~there's far too much to take in here~~). You might find him jogging around the carnival circuit, meditating in a quiet spot in the trailer park, or doing kata with his keyblade in hand.

Whichever happens, make sure you call out first. Poor boy's a bit easy to startle.]

wildcard
[hit me up!]

Mirror Maze

[Sora... may have been stuck in here for a while. The maze is relatively empty right now, at least from his perspective, so he can't follow anyone out, and the old 'follow the right wall' trick doesn't seem to be working.

Or was it the left wall?

Even creepier, sometimes his own reflection was replaced with what looked like Roxas, but... meaner. Even when it was his own reflection, it somehow seemed more sinister than his reflection had any right to look.

But it was just a trick, right? A funhouse trick, enhanced with magic.]

Well, I guess I'm kinda lost, huh?

[He chuckles nervously to himself.]

I hope I can make it outta here soon...

Gamer's Circle

[If there's one thing Sora excels at, it's minigames! And this place seems like it's packed with them. Everything from a ring toss to a scavenger hunt, this place had it all and then-some!

He's not winning at everything, no, but he's gotten a cool keychain and a yo-yo, and that's neat! And even when he doesn't win, it's still fun!

Sora laughs like he's having the time of his life, and runs off to find the next game.]

Wild Card

[Hit me with your best shot!]

1. Admission Fees:

This was ridiculous. Since when was there a circus-thingy in Regent's park? He certainly would have heard of it. Or actually heard it set up, since it wasn't too far from Baker Street. Mysterious happenings were his forte, however, and he was immediately interested. It was definitely not...how should he say...ordinary.

Which was exciting, he thought.

He was having trouble trying to figure out what his payment should be. Irritated at the fact that he wasn't exactly getting through to this person, he dug in his pocket and pulled out one of Lestrade's old ID's that he had stolen when he was being irritating.

It wasn't like Lestrade's good name was in any danger, nor would Scotland Yard be thick enough to fall for someone trying to sneak in, so he figured it would do.

2. Wildcard:

Sherlock was still not exactly on board with this whole 'magic' thing. As much as he'd seen already, he still approached it from a very scientific point of view. Different types of energy not yet documented by proper peer-reviewed research...okay. He could deal with that.

What he couldn't deal with, at least at the moment, was the fact that being in this ridiculous circus came with side effects. Clearly an offshoot of the human body being exposed to whatever this energy field was.

He certainly wasn't pleased, when he looked in the mirror that morning, to see that his canines had grown an entire centimeter each, enough to poke slightly out of his mouth even when it was closed. It was like some horrid low-budget vampire movie. And what was worse, that his nails seemed to have gone in on the joke. They were a dark honeyed color, curved wickedly into points that stuck out a couple centimeters from each fingertip. Unlike human nails, they were thick, like a large cat's.

This debt thing was getting worse all the time.

Sherlock was in a foul mood when he left his trailer, shoving his hands inside his pockets, his gray coat flapping angrily behind him. He could feel the stupid fangs in his mouth, his tongue kept hitting them, and when he spoke, he lisped a little. Probably with time, that would go away, but sounding, as well as looking ridiculous, was enough to put him in a sulk for eternity.

Edited 2016-11-18 16:03 (UTC)

Threaded | Flat

Page 4 of 4

Twisted Fate | League of Legends | Veteran

Roman Gulliver | OC | GARBAGE NEWBIE

shijima kuro'okano | nabari no ou | newbie

Seariadn | OC | Newbie