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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[ After spending about 99% of his life poor, Greg's gotten in the habit of making light of his misfortune. He hasn't quite unlearned it yet. The clerk certainly doesn't look at all amused, but at least he gets his tickets without further fuss. ]

Your grandpa sounds like a bright guy. Any help you'd hope for is worth giving, yeah?

Pretty much, although most of the time I hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

[Considering the amount of people he has reached out to only to be pushed away out of stubbornness or some misguided attempt at the puzzle's power, Yuugi has taken to living by that. Maybe, though, without the millennium items around, he can actually make some headway with thinking the opposite. Shouldering his backpack, he takes hold of both straps and turns to Greg, tilting his head.]

I don't think I've seen you around before, mister.

Well, sometimes that's the best you can do.

[ Greg's spent more than enough time with the notion that he can't change how things go, and he has to hope it'll work out. It's a grim fact, but things have turned out better when he doesn't meddle. He rolls his shoulders in a small shrug. ]

Haven't been around before, really. Me and my son sorta stopped in for a surprise fair day, I guess. Name's Greg Universe. And you're...?

Edited 2016-10-03 10:15 (UTC)

[Hm. Still strange, but maybe he was thinking on it too hard. Deciding to ignore the obvious something isn't right here feeling in the pit of his gut that had been there since he entered the carnival, he nods, small smile flicking across his face as he lets his hands fall to slide one into his pockets. Son, huh? He made a mental note to keep an eye out for the other boy in the future.]

Yuugi Mutou, and grandpa kicked me out of the house for the day so here I am.

[Never mind that he'd practically been chased into the carnival but what have you.]

Does your son like games, Universe-san?

[And so it is, that Vietnam has been covered by a flowing piece of silk. She thought she could've dodged it, but as it is, there was a lot of fabric, and eventually it overwhelmed her. Not to mention, one should not damage any of the props, so instead she just tries to gently pull it away, bit by bit, until she was able to emerge.

She'll come face to face with Shiro who is at her side. Looking at him and then at the silk--]

A-ah, I am fine. This is yours, no? [She holds up the piece of silk up gingerly.]

[Unfortunately for Gottlieb, he's a bit too naive and trusting. Children have never been something to be feared before, so why should he fear them now? Even if he's never seen a child smile quite like that before...]

Inside? You can do such a thing? Amazing!

That seems to do the trick. The worst of the hecklers back off and move on, casting dirty glances over their shoulders as they retreat. The more patient guests stick around, hoping to be first in line whenever the ride is finally fixed and running again.

"Woah," Peridot mutters, watching the worst of them as the disappear back into the crowd. She sits back up and picks her tools up again, clearing her throat. "I could've handled them too, you know. It's just that my priority right now is really getting this ride fixed," she declares.

Hey, I'm fine! I'm more worried about you right now. Nothin's broken or anything, right?

[ This stranger was surprisingly light, at least in the collision. Usually when you're built like that you get hurt pretty easy, right? It just makes sense.

...then again, levitating is remarkably less on the "makes sense" side of things. Natsu has definitely seen people do weirder things, but this is still a little odd. ]

Uh. Guess I don't need to ask if you can walk, huh?

"That's goo--AHH!" When Greg goes down, Natsu just shouts in alarm. Yeah, this guy is definitely not okay. Where'd he even hit him? His head? Hopefully not his head, that would be really dangerous. Can you die from getting hit with a rubber ball? Is he dead?

The ball bounces off the bottom of the stall and harmlessly rolls away behind them, completely ignored at this point by the panicked dragonslayer who's now crouched over the other patron, trying his best to not have a mental breakdown.

"Uhh. Are you sure you're okay, mister?"

For her part Amethyst is slightly disappointed that no one threw anything else so she could catch it and threateningly eat it, but, you know, she's accomplished her actual goal, so this is fine.

"That's what I'm here for," she says, settling back down with a slightly smug grin. This is partly true. She is also here to touch Peridot's butt, but, you know, no one ever said she couldn't multitask.

Edited 2016-10-03 13:59 (UTC)

[It's SUPPOSED to be spooky, as well as protective. But at the lioness's words, the zebra hesitates for a moment. When Zecora speaks, it is with careful sympathy.]

If you cannot leave, then with regret
I must report you have a debt.
To those who owe, the exits fade
You cannot leave till it is repaid.

"No, no. You haven't done anything wrong, it's just..." Ginko makes his way over, glancing at the bottoms of each of the booths as if he's looking for something. When he reaches Greg, he looks up with a sigh - but he keeps looking at the ground occasionally, even while talking.

"One of the animals has gotten out; I'm pretty sure it's around here somewhere, but it could be a problem if it gets startled before I can find it. Have you seen anything strange around here?"

[Well, hello there. Koel can't help but smirk at his confusion. She walked outside to get a breath of air, and lo and behold, she found Shiro.

She silently leans against a tree, arms folded, watching.]

You know you don't need to impress me, dear.

[Grandma no yes]

Edited 2016-10-03 14:48 (UTC)

Is that so?

[ If it's any consolation, he may be taller, but his clothes are by far shabbier. Anyway, the moment the new reflection appears? That's all Childermass will keep an eye on, much to the irritation of his own reflections. He's turning out to be no fun, which is their problem, not his.

Who it is, exactly, is still difficult to make out, which only causes him to frown. Is it a person, in truth? Or another spirit? ]

Then I should say I have a few skills here and there she may find useful.

You picked a bad spot then.

[Her head motions towards the pathway that inevitably comes by where the Gem is.]

Its almost lunch time. People will be coming this way any moment, you know.

I see.

[She looks him over with a discerning eye.]

Whether or not you can leave really depends on how you got here. If we're in your town, and you came here to enjoy yourself, that's usually one thing. The exit is to the right, and then a left past the big top. That would be all there is to it.

[She quietly turns her head towards that exit. She knows its tempting to try.]

If you found us by chance? In one place one moment, then here the next? That's another thing entirely.

Edited 2016-10-03 15:12 (UTC)

To us, I suppose. But they're not particularly interesting as a customer class. More like pests.

[Untasty pests.]

I'm making some, ah, specialty sweetmeats in preparation. Just in case that is where we're headed, of course.

Edited 2016-10-03 15:23 (UTC)

Childermass isn't trying to leave. He's already planned on staying, in fact, which gives him the unfortunate position of not being able to help the people finding themselves turned around by the forest. It's far from cruelty that brought him out to watch the attempts, however. It's only that he wanted to find a quiet spot to smoke his pipe and wonder about the decisions he's made.

He hadn't meant for it to put him at a spot where someone else would come stumbling out, leaving him as that nearest person, but here they are. He turns his head only enough to eye Preston with mild interest, certainly not parting from the tree he's leaning against, though he will pull his pipe out from between his teeth to answer after a moment of consideration.

"There is no exit." His answer is straight to point. "I'm afraid you've been had."

Whenever you can get them to me, dear, as long as its by tomorrow night. I'm not quite out, but I will definitely run low by then on those.

[She does smile, at least.]

You do certainly have useful powers for cultivating. I might have to ask you for help with a garden for the kitchen.

Edited 2016-10-03 15:18 (UTC)

Naps don't count as scheduling conflicts.

Ooh boy, looks like they've got another one. Ginko, carrying a bucket of animal feed in each hand, slows to a stop, his brow furrowing as he watches Pidge look around.

He calls out after just a few seconds. "Hey! Something wrong?"

Oh. Ho. The determined little rodent is really being a handful today, isn't he. Well, there's one method Koel can think of to calm the little shitpossum down.

(At this point, those who don't call it such are in the minority. Koel compromises by simply calling it the "thing". Grandparents don't swear.)

She waits until the raging, screeching beast has its eyes on her, and she gives him an angry, disappointed glare.

"Ahem."

You disappoint Grandma, shitpossum.

No snacks for you.

They belong to the Ringmaster. Surely that's reason enough?

[For her part, Koel seems unfazed, her cheeks slightly red. Maybe she had been exerting herself trying to capture the wisps, herself. Maybe she's getting a bit of a contact buzz from the wisps. Maybe its both.

She stretches and folds her arms behind her head.]

I'm not worried about it. We'll get them, won't we?

[ Shen rolls his eyes, stifling a sigh. Either his quarry now is too obtuse or too wisely wary; either way, it's beginning to try his patience. He shares a sympathetic look with the perturbed reflection of Childermass in the nearest mirror.

Once more, then. ]

What you should say is what they are so that I may decide whether or not playing your escort is worth my time! Perhaps time is an inconsequential currency to you, my man, but I assure you to me it is not!

[ His tone pitches and ebbs at first at a deceitfully cheery, frenetic jaunt, then ends on a harsh rash. His reflection gesticulates with a wing-like sleeve by the head of John's head, striking it with fingers that seem just a little too long on the way to settle upon his own breast. ]

I'll make a trip out tonight and bring them by in the morning before the breakfast rush, that way I won't be in the way when you're trying to get things done.

[The mention of a kitchen garden gets a smile from her.]

If you'd like to do that, I would be more than happy to help.

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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do your work

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Break time

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trying to leaf

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Working

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