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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[He stares at the woman levelly for a moment before snorting and pulling his face into a smirk.]

Yeah, I guess this carnival's alright.

[Harassing people is more entertaining then trying to win a useless prize at one of these semi-rigged games anyway.]

Oh those. We don't have them today, thank god. It's just a funny texture with the ones in the stew, but they taste fine.

[We don't talk too much about the alien vegetables that are sentient.]

Yukine herself had moved in with controlled fright. She had already overheard the voices, taunting her about her brother, telling her that her efforts for peace would be for naught. These things, Yukine told herself away from the sight of her own reflections, were only things of her own mind, something not to worry--

-- about...? Was that a roar? Yukine held the sides of the mirror and suddenly ignored the voices, wondering if it was a sound she could use to get out, but...

She gasped when she saw the lionness. She stood very still.

Having only seen lions in zoos, and just now realizing she was looking at one just in the same maze as she had, Yukine stood the most still she had ever been in her life, as did the dozen reflections of her that stared at the lioness.

There was no car to hide in. This was troubling.

... There was more room here.

[She doesn't accidentally want to set anything in her bunk on fire. It's not like she needs to sleep there, but it's still a good location to get away to for a moment of peace and quiet.

Unfortunately the woman is right. There will be more people showing up the longer she stays.]

I was about done anyway.

RIDDLE GAME
Yoohoo! Over here. [ She's shouting-- at a terrible volume. With no regard for those around her, Junko rushes over to her nearest victim. Whether you're a newbie, or a vet, maybe even someone who has yet to have the same fate as her, she's going to come and approach you either way. ] You. Yeah, you! It's kind of embarrassing how totally generic this opening is but, hear me out.

[ She pulls them aside, aiming to get to the most secluded area she can in as little time as possible. In other words, behind the restrooms. After taking a good look to make sure they weren't followed, she dramatically whips around and holds up a box. ]

You must be thinking, 'why is she carrying this box'? [ She covers the keyhole on the chest before opening it-- almost like she's playing peek-a-boo. ] Ufufu....but it's not. [ She purposely left the little note on the chest exposed, clearly her excitement got the better of her. ]

You're smart, aren't you? Can't you do this?

DO YOUR WORK
Ooohhhh, here she comes! She'll spit....chew...oh, whatever.

[ Obnoxious singing can be heard from outside the tent. Junko, if you don't know her already, is one of the many Daredevils. The one that puts her life in jeopardy as much as she possibly can-- the one that everyone is sure that, despite her pretty looks, there's just something off about her. Maybe wrong if they squeeze hard enough. ] But why would they? Stop talking. That isn't the point of this introduction anyway. [ She tosses a knife up and down rather carelessly, looking off into the distance. ]

As the sun beats down on the beautiful, promiscuous Daredevil, she is tasked with one single job. Outside of parading around the universe, wondering how her hopeless classmates are doing, does Enoshima Junko wonder how she got so lucky.

[ A hand goes to her hip, expression freezing. From what it looks like, she seems to have either lost track of her narration, or lost all interest in doing an overplayed gag like this. She sighs, rolling her eyes. She plays with the knife, pressing the tip of it against her finger. She's woken up early to try and get this done today, so much that she can even sneak inside the tent to get a better view at things.

If you wake early enough, you can either catch her monologue, or her simply waltzing inside the tent. ]

WILD CARD
[ set up any prompt and junko will be down!! ]

[ Kerubim caught that break in Shen's facade. He would be curious, if he wasn't busy being absolutely relieved Shen wasn't pressing him for details. Thankfully he was enough of a showman himself to realize the purpose of the question as Shen continued, and was able to bounce back with ease. ]

Ha! I risk my life every day fighting monsters, hunting for treasures, rescuing the weak and helpless. Why should now be any different?

Huh, a job? IT wouldn't be the first time someone approached Kerubim with work after seeing his incredible luck at work.

"Depends. What sort of job?"

DO YOUR WORK .

[ Working as a scout of new universes is almost like second nature to Byakuran--he's had tons of training for it, even before coming to this place. Honestly, even just getting prepared for a day of good work makes him realize how well suited he is to this type of field work--it just gets him excited to think about what sorts of new knowledge he can acquire and how quaint the inhabitants of this place will be. ]

Ya ~ ho!! I'm all set!

[ Byakuran dusts himself off, fully prepared to be on his merry way, with or without his co-workers. He's just that excited!! Feel free to stop this jolly young man who seems to have a bit too much pep in his step just at the prospect of new adventure, new blood. ]

BREAK TIME .

[ The way he chooses to spend his free time is, well, quite frankly, gorging himself. He has an insufferable sweet tooth, and that much is obvious just by the near sight of him: from where he is nonchalantly sitting on a lone log, there is an array of candy wrappers that have seemingly come from a number of different worlds. Despite the large quantity of wrappers, it doesn't appear that he is going to be stopping anytime soon, as he continues to take bites out of a peculiar looking chocolate bar that he must have acquired on a quest during one of their stops. If you come close enough, you'd hear him humming to himself!! ]

WILD CARD .

[ Anything goes!!! He'll be more than happy to show up invited or uninvited just about anywhere. ]

Ah? Ah? What's this?

[ He's humming a little tune, poking his head into the tent while sauntering over to the blonde. ] The Great Enoshima Junko seems a little lackluster! What's with the melodrama? [ Not that it was anything out of the ordinary for her to act like this. But he likes acting whimsical in her presence. ]

Don't tell me you're losing your touch, little miss Daredevil.

Byaku-chan!!

[ She shouts, tossing the knife so far up in the air that it seems to disappear in the clouds, gleaming goodbye to the both of them. She opens her arms wiiiiiide, smiling bright. ]

[ Thinking about it, the knife might've pierced the tent. Who knows?? What can be said is the sudden change in Junko's expression. She's scowling now, smile thrown away in favor of acting like a brat. ]

Byaku-chan.

Unless you plan on pitching some ideas and being useful for the people in this world... [ She swipes her thumb across her neck, making appropriate gagging sounds to match the implication.

She definitely is being dramatic, if only to sate her boredom. ]

...Then you're just gonna get in my way.

Oooh. Consider me spooked.

[ While he is being sarcastic, he laughs a genuine little chuckle, dramatically putting a hand above his eyes to squint and watch the knife disappear from view. He has no fear of being struck, knowing her abilities, but he cant help but stare in awe. ]

Looks like the tent is getting more in your way than I am, though. You planning on catching that?

[None of the above, in fact! Except for, well, "lady", of course, being that that's... the part that Easel himself said.

But anyway, he can't help being a little mock-scandalized and sidetracked a bit by that.]

Now.

[Lifts a finger and shakes his head, starts fast-talking a bit to hopefully loop back around to sorting out what "this" is all the faster.]

First, beggin' your pardon, but y'all hold your horses, 'cause my Acryla sure as anything ain't one! If you were to come on back where I'm from, I'm bettin' you would think she was one o' demonkind's royals. When I say "lady", I mean "lady"!

Huh? Well Mentor said I'm not s'posed to take things from strangers, an' I don't really have anythin' to ask for. Mentor's an artist, yanno, so anythin' from a carnival probably wouldn't suit his tastes.

( Very Refined Tastes™, that unfortunately don't quite match up to Mika's own fondness for cheap stuffed toys and amateur sweets. )

He's the leader a' Valkyrie, so whenever we have a new performance comin' up, he has to teach me how to do the dances an' the songs properly. ( Here, he puffs up a little, looking tentatively proud of himself for this. ) Ever since Nazuna-nii left, I'm Mentor's only doll, after all, so I gotta work real hard to make sure Mentor's stage is perfect.

So it's some sort of magic trail back out. That should have been obvious now that you mention it.

Do you know what type of magic this carnival runs on?

Wow. It's almost like you can't figure out you were supposed to catch that in the next tag for dramatic effect. [ Junko says, like a passive aggressive loser. She accents her statement with throwing a hand up in the air to take care of said knife.

The knife practically whistles on the way down before she grabs it. And as soon as it makes contact with her hand, she lunges at Byakuran. To any onlooker, it might actually seem she has some intent on killing him.

But she's joking! She promises! She knows he can tell, so who cares? She stops just short of making any actual contact, mirth still in her eyes.]

Wanna be in my new act?

[ Byakuran doesn't even flinch as she lunges towards him, not planning on making any sort of rash move that could result in actually getting injured, because as far as he's concerned, the probability of her actually taking a stab at him (literally) is less likely than one would generally expect. What does she have to gain out of stabbing him out here in the open after all!! Maybe someone with less common sense and the ability to think things through would react in fear or jump away, but Byakuran stays calm and grounded. This must be a shocking sight to anyone watching.

As the knife stops just short of his skin, he tilts his head up a bit, his sweet smile melting into something more akin to a smirk.]

Ah? What would be in it for me? Something other than a gaping chest wound, I would hope.

Pokemon? Um, I never heard a' those at all... ( Reapeating himself, but that seems... actually kind of troubling? Hello? What's going on here? ) I guess they're kinda like pets, yeah? Er, they seem like somethin' out of an anime.

( He mulls over it for a second, but shakes his head. ) Well ya must take real good care of him for him to like ya so much.

( 100% valuable, Mika's not gonna doubt it. Also, he's a little relieved that the other's eyes no longer focused on him, really. )

I think that'll work... If ya bring 'em up to the front, they'll give ya tickets for whatever ya need, yeah?

( It's one of the things Mika tried, personally. It's just too hard for him to resist food stalls and all the cute stuffed animals that are hung up in the game stalls, but he has to be especially strategic with what little pocket money he does have. )

Almost...

[Sighing, Tanyuu accepts Amethyst's help and pulls her front half back up. She glances back at the mess all over her tail, then casts a mildly stern look to the gem.]

Though next time, perhaps keep your surroundings in mind a bit better? We're lucky it wasn't one of the bigger ones knocked over.

Patience and a steady hand, especially for the eyes. It wasn't a skill I expected to ever have a great need for, but...

[Tanyuu spreads her hands with a soft chuckle. Life takes one to strange places! The reaction to her tail is a pleasant surprise--Tanyuu is much more used to confusion from customers about it, and her smile gains an extra tint of warmth to it.]

Ah, thank you! I take it people like me are rather more...rowdy, where you are from?

Mmm, very much so. I didn't mean to make it sound as if they could get away with just anything, though--Joker isn't that lenient, no matter how good a performance you can put on. [Here Tanyuu shrugs with a somewhat embarrassed look.] My apologies for not being clear on that.

"Mmm. I don't think we're running low on anything, but it's been a while since I made a thorough inventory." The barks are always tricky to keep well supplied...they can't grow an entire tree very easily, after all.

...Or maybe they can. Some types of fae magic can help with growing plants, can't it...?

Tanyuu considers Ginko for a long moment, filing the thought away for later. "And don't forget to watch your own health. Cigarettes or no, you're the most likely to catch some form of illness out of this."

She remembers how Ginko had run himself into the ground with that first outbreak at the carnival, after all.

I'm sorry this had to happen. You're forced to swallow down whatever they want you to. It's kind of disgusting.

Of course I do! Dedenne is my partner and friend!

_{[He seems to agree, squeaking in response. That said though what's with no one knowing about Pokemon?]}

What's an anime?

[Ah. He gives a smile, scratching his cheek before shaking his head and holding out his hand amicably. There's no sense in letting that get in the way of getting to know someone.]

Well in any case, a friend of a friend of Yuusei-kun's is a friend of mine.

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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Mirror Maze | Newbie

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Junko Enoshima | Dangan Ronpa | Veteran

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Byakuran | Katekyo Hitman Reborn! | Veteran

do your work!!

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/crosses self

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