⇨ 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

Kadin | OC | Newbie and veteran prompts for some variety!

[leglesspariah]

CW: Kadin is a naga, and the following prompts involve animal death and uh...vore I guess. Kadin is mostly snake and he's hungry and he eats things is the point.

Newbie: Petting Zoo

[Kadin is not in a good place, mentally, emotionally or physically when he arrives at the carnival. A month wandering aimlessly through a desert filled to the brim with chaotic magic fallout will do that to a person, (or a half-person anyway). He's used to fasting for long periods of time, but a month, especially a month filled with a lot of physically taxing travel, is pushing it even for him. Not to mention the last time he had more than a mouthful of water at a time was weeks ago. So when the sandstorm gives way to a forest, and he emerges from that forest to find a carnival, he doesn't question it. He just slithers up and over the fencing surround the festivities and makes a beeline for the first source of water he sees.

It happens to be a water trough in a petting zoo. He dunks his head in without a second thought and drinks, coming up a moment later sputtering but relieved this was not just another illusion. It's then that he takes a second look around him, no longer as delirious with thirst, he's actually absorbing some of the sights this time. The place is loud and garish and bright and-

Wait there are goats here. Goats and rabbits and chickens and quite a few things he doesn't recognize. His stomach, (all twenty feet of it) growls. He looks around nervously. There are people nearby but nobody has seemed to have noticed him yet. Maybe if he just....makes this quick...

Nervously keeping an eye on the crowd moving by a few dozen feet away he reaches out to the biggest of the goats, patting it gently, then circling his arms around it in a sort of hug. Then the coils of his tail rush forward as his human half holds the animal in place and wrap around it. The animals are making noise now, bleating and clucking and crying out in alarm, but Kadin ignores them, too hungry to care. His tail squeezes around the goat whose protests are becoming weaker and weaker.]

Veteran: Working/Break Time


[Kadin is not in love with his new job. It's certainly a punishment that fits the crime however so he feels he can't protest. But it's only his third day and he's already something of a nervous wreck thanks to his 'act'. There's nothing he can do about it though, and so reluctantly he follows the cue of the stage manager and enters the big top where a goat is waiting for him in a spotlight.

Again he catches and kills the goat, and then he gets to work on eating it. Watching a snake unhinge its jaw is a spectacle all on its own, but watching a naga effectively unhinge his entire human half to allow him to swallow a goat is on a whole other level of freaky. His chest stretches, his collarbone and ribs drift away from one another, the tight sinew that holds them together loosening incrementally. His abdominal muscles, (human and reptile alike) undulate in strong rippling motions and the goat disappears inch by inch. There's gasps of mixed horror and delight from the audience and honestly Kadin just really wishes he could eat faster.

Once his act is done he slinks backstage again, is handed his usual purging potion, and told his next act goes on in about 4 hours time. Head down, posture reeking of dejection, Kadin nods and then exits the tent, looking for an unused food cart or maybe an out of order game booth to curl up under until the potion does its work.]

Veteran: Working/Break Time

[rats_r_delicious]

[Nearby Kadin, there's a figure backstage watching the act to tell the supervisors for quality control. He doesn't know the Naga personally, he's a human that turns into a normal snake sometimes, but he sort of feels pity for him. His feeding turned into spectacle. He hates the fact he's forced to regurgitate whatever's he's eaten for the crowd.

He may go over to him after it's all over.]

You okay?

[leglesspariah]

[Thankfully, the potion isn't just a straight up emetic. Even the ringmaster agrees that would be too rough on his system. Instead it's something like a vanishing potion, clearing out his guts in a way that's certainly still uncomfortable, (it feels unnaturally hot in his guts, and makes him burp a lot afterwards), but at least not as traumatic as repeated regurgitation.


He'd found a nice cramped maintenance shed to squeeze himself into, and was just taking the first swig of the potion when he's approached. Quickly he rearranges himself so that his torso is a few feet away from the rest of his body, while his tail stays tightly balled inside the shed. He automatically makes himself just a little bit shorter than the other man. His smile is small, bland, and forced. One shoulder tilts in a halfhearted shrug.]

I'll be alright. Did you....enjoy the show?

[rats_r_delicious]

No, not really. Feeding shouldn't be something for people to see and gawk at.

[Joaquin is currently glad he's just a regular snake and not really used to actual performances... yet. They have yet to hire a snake-charmer.]

[leglesspariah]

[The sympathy prompts an immediate and complete overhaul in Kadin's demeanor. His head slumps forward in a sigh of relief, and behind them his coils shift and turn, the tight knot relaxing some.

Kadin takes a second deep swig of the potion, winces, and then replies.]

Thank you. To be honest this is my worst nightmare.

[rats_r_delicious]

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

veteran, break time

[moodstringer]

[Nessa is at loose ends at about the same time--either they've switched to the canned music they use with the sfx sometimes, or someone else who's musically inclined has taken her place. Either way, she's fine with that.

What she's not really fine with is the fact that her co-worker's on display. Sure, he screwed up, and there's probably a limited amount of things he can do to make up for it, but binge/purge is never a good time, regardless of species.

Blessedly, there is an empty food stall nearby. It's pretty clear that's where he's headed, and she follows with a languid stalk.]

You don't mind if I run interference, do ya? Never know when someone might stick their nose where it doesn't belong. I promise to not drum on the stall, and you don't have to talk 'less you want to.

[Because she's pretty damn sure this is pure misery. If he doesn't want to, he doesn't have to be alone through it, but Nessa won't be a pain in his tail if he wants to go it solo.]

[leglesspariah]

[When she approaches him, he hastily starts emerging from where he's coiled up, but stops midway when what she's saying to him sinks in. He gives a relieved sort of sigh, a thankful smile, and then retracts back into the ball he's curled into in the food cart.]

Thank you. I appreciate it a lot.

[moodstringer]

Hey, in the end, we're all just tryin' to get by, you know? [She sure does. Really, it's one of the reasons why she ended up here, though Nessa did it by choice.]

One sec. [She leaps up to settle her behind on the counter area of the food cart, trying not to jostle anything too much. Fidgeting just a little, but those whirring drumsticks are on her knees, not the cart, as promised.]

I'll be quiet, or if ya need a distraction, gods know I can chatter with the best of them.

[Mostly, she's letting him set the pace. She knows the barest of minimums about snakes (though she likes them), and she's not entirely sure if he's entirely coherent after 'dinner'. Even if said dinner's not going to last long.]

[leglesspariah]

[Kadin has been getting used to the fact that he's not quite so different here. There's beasts and creatures and half-humans of all sorts here, so while he might still be fairly unique, he doesn't stand out as much. He's not automatically the odd one out, the one treated with thinly veiled distaste and suspicion. It's got him off balance, this one undeniably positive thing among rest of this disastrous place.

This woman is basically the epitome of the kind of treatment he's not used to. Showing comfort and understanding to a near complete stranger. He hasn't had someone be so kind to him since Shen left for his pilgrimage. Under normal circumstances, Kadin might try to keep her at arm's length out of some combination of suspicion and self flagellation. But in the moment he is tired, and feels strung out. Not only from the exertion of feeding, but the prospect that in just a few hours time he'll have to do it all over again. So he lets himself relax, takes a swig of the bitter potion he's been given, and pushes his doubts aside.]

I wouldn't mind chatter.

[moodstringer]

Well, I'm Nessa, and I'm not from around here...[Which quickly dissolves into a laugh, because really, aren't they all not from around here? But it always seemed easier to her to put people at ease with joking around, and so she starts with that.]

Seriously, I kinda joined up on purpose. At loose ends, no family where I was from, and nobody who wanted me there either, you know? It hasn't been too bad, but...

[Yeah, that's whereabouts she peters out a bit, because she's realized that she's just shoved her size ten in her mouth, and has the grace to be embarrassed about it.]

Sorry. I do know it kinda sucks to be on display. I do burlesque sometimes, because, well. Sometimes they need people, and I like to think I'm at least kind of cute, right? But still, that's my choice, nobody makes me go up there. I'm sorry you're stuck.

I kinda hope they figure out a different sort of spectacle to show off, to at least give you a break. Rockin' the boat isn't...always healthy here, but...

[It's a frustrated sigh she gives, as she rakes a hand through her hair.] I don't think the punishment is fitting the crime, okay?

[Well. She sure is chattering.]

someone's gotta... petting zoo

[babbylon]

[Well, isn't that a sight?

Gilgamesh was a carnivore by nature, so he doesn't take any offense at watching this little exchange of survival of the fittest. If anything, he seems amused, cocking his head and watching the life slowly fade from the animal. Once the deed is done, he strolls right up and offers quite casually:]

Did you mean to cook that?

[More specifically did you mean to share that? If it's already dead, they may as well make the most use of it.]

Re: someone's gotta... petting zoo

[leglesspariah]

[Oh shoot, oh no. Um. He shifts, stretching his torso away from the rest of his tail by a few feet and "standing" across from the man with the very bright hair. Behind him his coils shift, tightening both as a sign of nerves, and in a futile attempt to maybe just hide the goat in there somewhere?]

Well, uh. No I don't...ususally. [He looks down at the ground pretty shamefully.] I generally eat things raw.

[babbylon]

Give me the goat.

[As an afterthought:]

And stand back.

[leglesspariah]

[For a split second Kadin looks devastated. He's so hungry he has food in his clutches but he got caught and now he has to hand it over. He thinks of running, booking it back over the fence he'd climbed earlier, but it wouldn't be as easy while hauling a meal. And if it really came down to it he wouldn't be able to put that much distance between himself and the carnival before he would need to stop and eat, and then he'd be caught for sure.

So he reluctantly loosens his coils, grabs the limp goat from them, and presents it to the man, then obediently backs up into a sad anxious ball of snake.]

[babbylon]

[If Gilgamesh notices Kadin's nervousness—so apparent it would be hard not to, frankly—he shows no sign of it, acting to neither reassure nor condemn him. Notably, he also does not try to hide what they're up to, fearless in the face of potential consequences. Once the goat has been handed over, he dumps it on the ground, sucks in a generous gulp of air, and...

Proceeds to cook it to charbroiled perfection with fire breath. A swift chop of his tail follows, splitting the meal cleanly in two, after which Gilgamesh gestures to Kadin.]

Take your half.

[...oh. That didn't turn out so badly after all.]

Break Time

[fourthscribe]

[Kadin is new enough (and more importantly, not in need of extensive making up for his show) that Tanyuu has yet to have met him around the carnival. There aren't too many others with naga bodies around, so when she does spot him he stands out like a sore thumb--especially with that still-full gut of his. Just how much had he eaten...?]

[Increasing her pace somewhat awkwardly, she comes up beside him and reaches out to rest one clawed hand on his shoulder.]

Are you alright? I can take you to the medical tent if you need.

Re: Break Time

[leglesspariah]

[Her touch startles him, and he jumps slightly, shoulders tensing, any relaxed curves of tail shrinking into a S shape. He takes up a polite smile before turning to face the person who addressed him.]

I'm fine, thank you. I just-

[He stops dead mid-sentence and gawps at her awkwardly. His eyes travel down the length of her tail, then back up to her face. Once, and then a second time out of disbelief. After a moment he remembers his manners like a punch to the (human) gut, and shakes his head. He pointedly looks away from her and one arm crosses across his chest while his other hand goes to his face in embarrassment.]

I'm so sorry I didn't mean to stare. I've never met someone, uh, like me before.

[fourthscribe]

[Tanyuu frowns a little at his shock, her tail shifting self-consciously as he looks her over. For a moment she wonders if he's going to accuse her of some level of outlandish freakishness...but it turns out to be rather well the opposite. She smiles, and shakes her head with a soft laugh.]

Oh! It's no problem; I hadn't either before being hired on. This is actually a, ah, rather recent development for me.

[She does look somewhat contrite, admitting that.]

Are you the only one of your kind, where you are from?

[leglesspariah]

[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?

[fourthscribe]

[In all honesty, she's rather desperate for a tutor of some kind in coping with her new body. There are only a few other naga at the carnival, and most of them are among social circles Tanyuu had never had much chance to mingle with. One had helped her the first few days in learning how to properly slither, but past that she had been left to muddle through on her own. She didn't particularly blame any of them, but it was frustrating to say the least.]

A little. Learning to move was a challenge, but I couldn't walk properly to begin with, so I had a bit less to unlearn, in some ways.

[She casts a glance back to her tail with one set of eyes, noting the differences between her own moss-covered shape and Kadin's more 'natural' scales.]

I've had to change my diet as well, obviously, but I can't quite figure out what I'm getting wrong. It feels like I'm eating constantly, but I still get headaches as though I've been skipping meals.

petting zoo here we go

[dontpokethat]

[Oh dammit the animals are upset again. Ginko sighs and sets down the bucket of feed he'd been carrying. He heads for the petting zoo, his tail lashing back and forth. Is it really that hard for people to just not harass them?? He speaks up, loud enough for anyone at the petting zoo to hear clearly, before he rounds the corner so that he can actually see what's going on.]

Hey, please don't grab the animals or anything if they're trying to get away, alright? Don't need them getting ups--

[Ginko stops in his tracks as the petting zoo comes into view. That is kind of beyond harassment.]

--What the hell?

Re: petting zoo here we go

[leglesspariah]

[Oh no, oh boy, oh man. This is really bad. Kadin lets go of his grip on the goat's head with his arms, which flops unceremoniously to the side. His tail squeezes once more and then shifts, dragging the goat down more in an attempt to just sort of....hide it.

His human half slides over and he keeps himself at 'normal human height' range a little ways away from his tail.]

Uhm....this isn't what it looks like.

[Now he has a very limited amount of time to think of what else on earth this could possibly be if it's not what it looks like.]

[dontpokethat]

Really. I'd love to hear what it is, then.

[Well, at least he doesn't sound especially angry? Just... annoyed and frustrated. And very tired. And maybe a little nervous, but at least this guy doesn't seem particularly malevolent.

All the same, he does have a giant snake tail instead of legs and did just kill one of the goats Ginko is supposed to be looking after. Ginko stays where he is, his fingers curled uncertainly by his sides, and looks Kadin over in uncertain silence.]

[leglesspariah]

[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.]