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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[Silver rolls his shoulders in a languid shrug.]

Not like it's my fault they're trapped.

[He turns to look over at Alois, his expression slightly tired.]

Tch, they brought in way too many today. I've barely had time to breathe.

Not your fault, but...

[Secret thoughts or attention-seeking, but Alois doesn't finish his sentence. Instead he stands up straight, then rocks back on his heels, hands behind his back.]

You know, idle hands, devil's workshop, all that. If you're overworked, doesn't that mean they like you? Haha, or maybe it's the other way around.

[There's a low groan from Silver's throat, accompanied by eyerolling only a champion eye roller could pull off. Apparently, this is hardly his first exchange with Alois.]

'But' what? You're doing that thing again. Spit it out.

But! I'm just saying! [Alois does this every time, too, flaring up as if he's been offended, acting flustered like he doesn't want to give up the rest of his thought.

...

But, yeah. He wanted to be asked.]

It's just pitiable, that's all.

[For someone who often mocks the weak (and anyone else), Alois seems to have a heart for contracts and conditions.]

[A pre-carnival Silver wouldn't have sat around for this. He wouldn't have had the patience or the maturity to deal with Alois and his games. But nowadays, he found the walls he'd once had between him and others weren't quite as impenetrable as they used to be. Some small part of him wanted a little pointless conversation.

He really loathed it.]

Yeah, well, nobody felt sorry for me when I was suckered into this place. And I bet it wasn't any different for you.

[Alois could say, I would have felt sorry for you. That would be nice, right? And honest. Too honest. Too vulnerable. No, he can't say that.

He pulls a face and decides to say something frivolous instead:] I felt sorry for me. [Which was extremely obvious from the moment he arrived. Maybe he's making fun of himself? Or he's just being snarky.]

[Silver's lips purse into an almost perfect line.]

That's a waste of time. I gotta give 'em credit, at least trying to escape is better than moping around.

[Moping around would be what he did for months afterward instead.]

[Alois grins at those pursed lips, and it's not really a wicked grin; it's too boyish and young, even, to be a proper smirk. He must be tickled. But it's fleeting, and as always, he makes a great show of himself, turning his face again toward the forest so he can lift his chin, stick up his nose, and look haughty.]

I don't mope, of course. It's good and proper to take a rest for oneself, when oneself is in need of a little extra care. Besides, don't you think trying to escape is a little too hopeful? Who's that foolish? Come now.

[Now that strikes a nerve, judging by the way Silver's face reddens and his clawed hands move to dig into the bark of the log.]

It's not like they know how impossible it is!

[If there's anything more than zero remorse for what he's just made Silver feel, Alois doesn't show it. He shrugs, even. He's still watching the forest, the people scurrying, too much hope or whatever her perceives.]

Well they ought to, [he says simply.]

[He stands up, arms crossing over his chest while a single clawed finger taps a forearm impatiently.]

Right, and how do you figure that? Or are you just spouting nonsense again?

So rude. [Alois isn't cowed by Silver's body language in the slightest. If anything, it makes him more petulant. He settles one hand at a hip, which juts out with snotty intent.] Everything I say makes sense; I know what I'm talking about. Not my fault if you can't follow.

What kind of thing escapes a trap? Not much, right? You catch a rabbit, it stays there and you eat it. You catch a fox... and so on. Unless it bites off its own bloody leg, but those are pretty particular circumstances. I don't see anybody doing that around here.

[He makes a 'pbbht' sound, shaking his head.]

That's not even close to the same thing! We're not dealing with a cage made of metal or something here, we're dealing with magic -- which in my world at least, doesn't exist. So of course I didn't think of it as a reason I couldn't get out.

[At this Alois gives one of his patented Alois Trancy Smiles—soft mouth, soft cheek, soft eyes, but something sketchy beneath all that. This is a smile that might poison someone's wine.]

You think magic isn't a cage?

[He's made no secret of his reverence toward faeries, and always insists that they exist in his world, they really do, and only special people can summon them. That's his claim, sometimes fervent, sometimes despondent.]

[That damn smile. Everytime he saw it he wanted to push the other boy into something. If this was the old him he might have. Getting into scraps with 'kin' wasn't something the management smiled upon, however. He could still push him verbally, though.]

How did you get that from what I said? Sometimes I think your brain's a Butterfree just flapping around in your skull. I said it's not like a metal cage.

But what makes you think that? Why do you think it isn't like a metal cage?

[—Maybe a little too earnest, here. He clamps his mouth shut, trying to hide his embarrassment with the line of his lips. His brow is furrowed, more in distress than actual anger, but...

Finally, he scoffs.]

As if you know anything about magic.

Because metal is metal. It's like... solid! Magic is...

[Well, he can't quite explain it so he just makes some frustrated hand gestures one assumes symbolize magic. Or a flapping bird.]

... and me not knowing about magic is the whole point in the first place, remember?

[More secret smiles over here—Alois looks satisfied, or something close to it, lashes low as he looks out over the forest.]

Then it looks, perhaps, like you've just learned a lesson about assuming things.

[With a groan he puts his palm to his head.]

Ugh, you give me headaches everytime I talk to you.

[The secret smile shifts once more into that boyish grin, no pretenses. Just a kid getting a kick out of something.]

Careful. We can't have you getting used to me. It would be terrible.

Not like I can ever get very far. This cage only has so much room.

That's exactly the right way to look at it.

[Alois typically seems encouraging of pessimism or dark thoughts in general; little surprise, coming from someone so moody. He crouches, now, hugging his knees to himself, arms wrapped around them, and then finally looks over at Silver, mouth hidden by his upper arm.]

In that case, I shall try my hardest to go on and keep giving you headaches, Silver.

Don't you think I have enough of them already working here?

[He steps forward so he's hovering over Alois.]

Speaking of, are you on break or just slacking?

[The imbalance, though partially self-imposed, has the effect of making Alois extremely uncomfortable—he hates to be underneath, hates to feel like he doesn't have the higher ground. It's a control thing. But precisely because he wants control, he doesn't stand back up to face Silver more evenly. Instead he looks the long way up, smiling like he's considering busting one of Silver's kneecaps.]

Insinuating I ever slack off? So rude. [Of course he's been known to do so.] What happens to me if I am?

[The redhead doesn't seem phased by the expression, a smirk of his own forming at the question.]

I dunno. More work? More... arms? A pair of horns? Maybe she'll make them match your lovely wrist jewelry.

Edited (ffffuck okay fixed now) 2016-10-11 17:56 (UTC)

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faking - 2016-10-11 18:00 (UTC) - Expand

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meanlook - 2016-10-11 18:35 (UTC) - Expand

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