⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[ringleaders]

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!

Comments

Peridot | Steven Universe | Veteran

[peridork]

DO YOUR WORK

[It never fails. Large crowd of guests arriving? Inevitably, at least one of the rides is bound to break down. Which is of course, where maintenance comes in.

Peridot's facing off against an old nemesis today: The Vortex. This finicky hunk of junk is one of the more popular attractions but it has a habit of busting loose and jamming up and -- OK, she's kind of lost track of the number of issues it's had since she's arrived here. Point is, it breaks down a lot, probably because it sees so much use.

Unfortunately its popularity means that she has a huge crowd of people waiting impatiently for everything to get back up and running again. The little gem is crouched up on one of the arms, bag of tools slung over one shoulder as she fiddles with some of the mechanisms up there. She keeps cursing and grumbling to herself as she works. Be you guest or ride operator, it's probably best not to disturb her... but if you're choosing this prompt, presumably you're ballsy enough to do it anyway.]

WISPS

[Now here's a disaster. Peridot fails to understand why catching these things is more important than her actual job, but far be it for her to question the Ringmaster's motivations.

She swipes a clawed hand at one of the little creatures and recoils with a yelp, holding her singed paw in the other.] Hot hot hot hot hot --! Nnnngh, just how the heck does the ringmaster expect us to catch these stupid cloddy things anyway!?! [She says to no one in particular. Well, more like squawks. There's a lot of pointy teeth gnashing going on.

Seriously though, she's getting really flustered. Feel free to lend a hand. Or you can mock her. Y'know. Whichever you prefer.]

[OOC:] Here's a visual reference for Peridot's carnival form, if your character wants to comment on any of her changes.

DO YOUR WORK...with a TWIST

[fortuneglass]

[Fortunately for Peridot, Carly is smart enough to Not disturb the working engineer. While she is standing rather unhelpfully nearby with her tongue in a drink, she at least isn't saying anything.

Unfortunately for Peridot...everyone else is.] Is it fixed YET...

When will the ride be ready??

They said twenty minutes twenty minutes ago..!!!

MmmmMMMmmmMMM [no plz sirs and madams don't-] Aaah- Ahm soor zat ifs almof vere..!! J...Juft twy to be pathient..!!

[Maybe she should have brought her tongue back in, because all that succeeds in is even MORE angry customers, combined with a now panicked scout.] AAAHHHHH sheth twyin!! Sheth twyin..!!

[peridork]

[A demand comes from up on high:] Can't you do something about them!?!

[Seriously. Peridot has no patience for this right now. And all the babbling and yelling from guest and scout alike is making it REALLY hard to concentrate on fixing this thing.]

[fortuneglass]

Aaaaauuuuh, Im twyi- [There's a strange slurping sound, followed by a yelp-but at least with her tongue out of the drink this will be easier.] They won't stop!!

[peridork]

So try something different! I can barely think with all of this racket going on!

[IT'S NOT LIKE SHE CAN GET DOWN THERE AND HELP YOU, BUDDY! Though Peridot does feel kind of bad... it's just, there's literally nothing she can do from up here when she's supposed to be fixing the arm of this stupid piece of junk.]

[fortuneglass]

D-DIFFERENT?!

[This isn't helping. And neither is the crowd. And really it's getting worse and worse and worse and-]

Oh please, [her shadow huffs.] Set a WALL.

R-RIGHT!!

[The good news is that if Peridot turns around, the crowd is...no longer shouting!

..At her. No longer shouting at her. There's a lot of yelping and running away, and there appears to be a small wall of purple-orange fire fencing off the game.] Ah....

[...Success?] ...I did it!

[peridork]

[Peridot looks up and yelps in surprise, nearly losing her footing up on the arm of the ride.]

Please tell me you have that under control!?! I don't need to deal with this thing burning down on top of having its insides all janked up!

[fortuneglass]

I-IT'S PROBABLY FINE!! [Carly yelps back herself, waving at the wall in some meager attempt to tone it down.] It's not hot!! Just..um...

Don't touch it, and you'll be fine, ahahaahh!!! [Alright now she's panicking. The structure might not be at risk, but it does...kind of feed on life energy...]

DO YOUR WORK

[drrdrrdrr]

I bet Amethyst clambering up to flop over the machine next to her is exactly what Peridot wanted, right? Right?? Haha well either way here she is, lounging like a cat except for her face propped up on one hand.

"Hey Per, how's it goin'?"

[peridork]

Peridot isn't even surprised in the least. But hey, she's actually kind of glad that Amethyst's here? At least that means she has some backup.

...Probably. If Amethyst is feeling helpful.

"How does it look like it's go-- YIPE!" She flattens against the arm of the Vortex. Someone has just thrown a soda, and just narrowly misses hitting her.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Whoah, what the heck--"

Amethyst leans past Peridot, hair bristling like she's in an anime.

"Hey, what's your problem!" she yells in the direction the soda came from. "You want to just knock her off here so this thing never gets fixed?? Come on, you wanna throw another one?"

[peridork]

"What are you doing, don't encourage them!" Peridot protests with dismay. She's still hunkered down on all fours against the metal arm, though, and has scooted a bit closer to Amethyst for protection. She'd rather not get pelted with junk food?? But on the other hand, she kind of wants to see Amethyst smack some sense into these guys.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Yeah, that's right, scram!" Amethyst hollers as a couple of the gathered crowd backs up a little in the face of her yelling. "Go line up for something else, this is obviously gonna be a while!"

[peridork]

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.

[drrdrrdrr]

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.

[peridork]

"Yes. Because it's your job," Peridot contributes, nodding in agreement, very matter-of-fact. She leans down and goes back to fiddling with the mechanics of the arm.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst snorts. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's not your job to 'handle them' or whatever."

A pause. Then she sort of flops her arms over the edge of the machine like a cat and sticks her tongue out and grins and says, "You can handle me any time, tho."

WORK

[operationbox]

[Getting one or two guests to calm down is one thing. The throng of people that queued up for the Vortex is another entirely, and Io's efforts to hold them back, while nothing short of admirable, are still falling short; she's back here just as much to get a break from them as she is to get an estimate from the tech.]

How much longer do you think this is going to be?

[Her wings are beating at overdrive, and no matter how hard her eyes glow they can't hide that she's getting pretty worried about this.]

[peridork]

Probably significantly longer if people don't stop interrupting me to ask me that!

[...Sorry, she's a little bit testy.]

[operationbox]

[Not even a certain scientist she won't bother to name was this prone to snapping.]

Sorry... I was hoping for something a little more... concrete?

Wisps

[intherigging]

[Near-by, Jacky's hunting her own wisp, a rope net held out before her as she drunkenly lurches after it. Most days, she can deal with the way her stupid limbs and arms have thrown her balance off, but having stumbled into the damn wisp because she'd tripped off the goddamn steps of her goddamn trailer hasn't left her in a mood to be cheerful about it.

She snarls through her teeth as she casts the net and misses. Again.] I don't bloody well know.

[peridork]

[The Gem has to pause to watch Jacky drunkenly stumbling about. It's... Well, at least she can take comfort in the fact that she's not as bad off as her coworker over there, and that's including the singed paw in the equation. At this point, Peridot puts on the brakes, letting one of the little wisps flit away from her.]

Okay, this is ridiculous. We need a different approach! I mean, you and I are both smarter than this, there has to be a better solution!

[intherigging]

[Stopping herself, Jacky snorts, swaying a bit on her feet. Stupid, evil little wisps.] Well, I for one am open to suggestions. All I've got is this stupid net.

[peridork]

Ugh. Well, lets collaborate... What do we know about these things so far? We know they're -- [They're stupid.] ...Flighty. They obviously don't want to be caught, and we can't touch them without bare hands without suffering ill effects...

WISPS

[pocketofsunshine]

[And she thought she was bad at catching little creatures when she started out]

I...don't think you're going to catch anything like that.