⇨ 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

Ginko | Mushi-Shi | Veteran

[dontpokethat]

Working - Animal Keeper

For the most part, the circus’s animal enclosures are pretty effective - they have to be, given some of the animals kept here. But even the best pen can have an occasional… problem. Like a particularly determined tenant managing to bolt past its keeper while he’s trying to feed it.

Which is how a fuzzy, greyish, vaguely rodent-like creature is now clinging to the side of a trash can with its weird pink rat hands, having plunged its ENTIRE HEAD into the can. Ginko, equipped with thick leather gloves, has one arm wrapped around it and is using his free hand to try and pry its fingers free of the garbage can’s edge. The animal itself does not seem very pleased about this, and, besides its ongoing squirming and efforts to scrabble at his stomach with its hind feet, is occasionally pulling its head out of the trash to snarl and snap at him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you want to gorge yourself on garbage. Well, guess what, I’m the one who gets in trouble if you get yourself sick, so-- don’t you bite me.” He scowls and, with another quick pull, manages to dislodge its grip. Meaning he’s now standing here holding an enraged, screeching animal the size of a large-ish dog like it’s a particularly belligerent baby, but at least now it’s out of the trash. An improvement??

Break Time

Ginko is leaning up against a convenient fence, staring idly not at so much as in the general direction of one of the attractions. He has one of his strange-smelling cigarettes balanced between two fingers and a chunk of funnel cake sticking out of his mouth, looking generally pretty content to just stare into space and probably eventually finish his food, only paying enough attention to his surroundings to whisk his tail out of the way of any passing feet - until a few of the mushi drifting around the carnival float too close, a cluster of tiny glowing shapes in his peripheral vision.

He frowns and blinks, waving them away with one hand. One drifts over again, now sort of patting at his face with a faintly glowing appendage. Ginko stands upright and waves it off, only for it to be replaced with a couple others. Whatever the cause, they seem to be unusually grabby today, and Ginko isn’t too pleased with it.

Of course, for any of the majority of people who can’t see the tiny creatures, it looks a lot like this guy is just… getting increasingly annoyed over nothing, swatting at the air around him.

Wildcard

[Just come at me!]

Break Time

[fourthscribe]

Thankfully for Ginko, there is at least one other person at the carnival who knows what is going on. As Tanyuu draws closer she pulls her pipe and a pack of her own mushi tobacco out of her haori, stopping to pack a chunk of the mixture in to be lit with a faintly concerned expression. While the mushi population of the carnival is blessedly much smaller than even a relatively barren piece of land in their home world, there are still enough that a potential swarm is an issue to be wary of.

"They're pretty persistent today."

[dontpokethat]

By the time Tanyuu reaches him, Ginko has finally swallowed his last mouthful of funnel cake and stuck his cigarette back in his mouth. He nods while he takes a pull on his cigarette, only speaking up once he's let out the smoke in a slow breath. The mushi squirm in the air and drift away from the smoke.

"Little worrying. With any luck it won't get worse than this."

[fourthscribe]

Tanyuu nods as she lights her pipe, then takes a drag before letting out a long stream of smoke into the air, chasing away the last of the stragglers.

"I'll keep an eye out. Hopefully we don't get any serious infections out of this." She didn't think she spotted any rare types in that swarm, but it was hard to say.

R.O.U.S.

[fortunesfavorite]

Kerub had been enjoying himself so far. He hadn't planned on going to a carnival, but sometimes his luck just worked that way. He was carrying a packet of candied almonds in one hand and a surprisingly large stuffed animal in the other. Who knows what he must have accomplished to win such a prize.

He knew he'd wandered into more of the behinds the scenes portion of the carnival, but wasn't in any huge rush to leave. These areas were just as exciting as the main event if you were willing to stick around. Like this guy wrestling a giant rodent. Kerub watched with the admiration of one watching a craftsman at work, until man and beast seemed to reach a standoff.

"Need a hand?" He yelled out after a while, hands cupped around his mouth for extra volume to cover the distance between the two

[dontpokethat]

Oh dammit. For someone who was nominally not a performer and had no interest in being one, Ginko seemed to have quite a lot of trouble avoiding spectators.

"No." It was almost impressive how quickly he answered, given that he was in the middle of trying to get hold of the rodent-thing's front legs so they would stop flailing and scrabbling at him. But this wasn't quite bad enough that he felt he could justify getting help from a patron. "Thank you for your concern, I have it-- have it under control."

[fortunesfavorite]

"Suit yourself," He replied, making no move to leave. It was not a very convincing act, and he was already making bets on how long it would be before the rodent got free of Ginko.

At which point he planned on jumping in regardless, since he wasn't about to let a rampaging beast ruin the carnival for the other attendees. He was happy to lend his monster hunting expertise.

Break Time

[nuclearnose]

"Excuse me, mister..."

A young caribou approaches Ginko with his ears drooping but his head lifted in something like hope. His fur is dirty and he is out of breath. He is also trying very hard not to burst into tears. Big bucks don't cry!

"Can you help me?"

[dontpokethat]

Ginko is in the middle of another effort to wave the mushi away, but he pauses when he hears a voice nearby. He glances over, blinking, and takes a moment to let it sink in that he is definitely being addressed by a caribou. On the bright side, he's been here long enough to be more or less numb to this kind of thing.

He gives a slight nod and takes the piece of funnel cake out of his mouth, his attention drawn away from the mushi. "Possibly. What's wrong?"

[nuclearnose]

He hesitates, pawing idly at the sawdust that litters the carnival ground. The circus is full of wonderful smells and beautiful lights, but there are just too many sights for one reindeer to take in. It was time to move on.

"All night I've to find my way out of that forest," Rudolph nods his head toward the tall trees peeking over the colorful tents. "But I keep getting turned around and ending up right back here. I'm...I can't fly very well yet so I can't go over. Can you show me the way through?"

Break Time

[pokepochette]

<sub>[The problem with being a pet owner, or in Bonnie's case a Pokemon owner, is that sometimes a Pokemon's instincts get the best of them. What Bonnie's realized during her short stay at the carnival thus far is that Dedenne is really fond of the sweet treats that are available. Right now the little mouse Pokemon's nose and stomach have him craving funnel cake and that's what he's determined to get, even if it means it has Bonnie chasing after him, screaming.

Unfortunately for Ginko, he won't be able to enjoy the piece of funnel cake hanging out of his mouth for very long before Dedenne climbs the fence he's leaning on and snatches it for himself. With a leap little paws grasp the piece of doughy goodness from Ginko's lips as Dedenne lands on the ground to scurry away. Not too far away though. Not far enough that when Bonnie finally arrives she can put two and two together and figure out what her Pokemon's done.]</sub>

Dedenne! Did you steal food again? You're not supposed to do that!

_{[The little mouse Pokemon is too busy being fat to feel remorseful just yet, however, as it gleefully shoves the pastry into its mouth.]}

[dontpokethat]

[Well this sure is being a day isn't it. Ginko jumps, twisting around to find where the unidentified furry blur that just stole his food went.] --Hey! What are you...

[...Ah. There it is. He leans back against the fence and frowns down at the little orange mouse before glancing at its apparent owner.] ...Might want to keep a better eye on that.

[pokepochette]

Dedenne! You're going to get fat!

_{[Scooping up Dedenne, who is still rather pleased with himself, shoving the last bite of cake into his little mouth, Bonnie turns to apologize, only to find herself fixated on the man's appearance.]}

I'm sorry! Uh...woahhh...! Your costume is really neat!

_{[Sorry buddy. She hasn't realized people with additional non-human features are a thing yet.]}

workin

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst is theoretically patrolling for Rowdy Customers, but she chooses to stop and just watch, leaning against her tail, as Ginko wrestles with his unfortunate charge. As a person who would absolutely bite someone who tried to physically come between her and the noble pursuit of eating trash out of a garbage can, she has some amount of sympathy for the flailing, yelling animal Ginko's holding...

"Aw, c'mon, look at that face..." She ambles over to pat the angry rodent on the cheek. It snaps at her. "Don't tell me this guy isn't made for digesting garbage. I bet he can take it."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko, who was already looking pretty disgruntled for obvious reasons, frowns even more deeply at Amethyst. He adjusts his grip on the animal, leaning his head back a little to avoid getting smacked in the face with its little hook claws.

"He isn't and he can't. Amethyst, need I remind you that you aren't the one who has to clean up after this thing if it gets sick, which is exactly what happened last time it got into the trash."

This rage-filled shitpossum has a DELICATE STOMACH okay.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Probably just needs to build up some resistance," says Amethyst, with the air of an expert. "You should let him eat, like, just a little trash..."

HI THERE (Working)

[dragnerd]

This place has some pretty nice stuff going on. It's definitely the biggest event Natsu's ever been to. Games? Rides? Big top acts? Whatever that thing is?

Actually, hold on. What is that? And what's with the guy carrying it? Natsu's no stranger to white hair, but a tail? Horns? This dude must be on a huge body mod kick. Right now, though, he's way more interested in the squirming, seething creature tucked under his arm. It looks like it could totally spit acid or something.

He strolls up as casually as he can (which, of course, means he over-acts nonchalance to the point of comedy), ogling the mass of fur with keen curiosity.

"Woah. Is that supposed to be some kind of monster? What's it do?"

[dontpokethat]

"W-what?" Ginko blinks and glances over at Natsu, his brow furrowed in concentration as he tries to keep the thing under control.

Once he processes the question, he just... shakes his head. "No, it's just-- it's just an animal we've got here. And it doesn't really... do anything."

Unless you count shrieking, biting, and making messes.

[dragnerd]

"Really?" He frowns. "That's weird. Usually things that look like that, y'know, do something." He crosses his arms with a huff, as if it should be totally obvious to this strange deer man that the rat thing should be able to accomplish some absurd feat.

"So it doesn't, like, get bigger or breathe some kinda gas? That's pretty boring."

Natsu stares for several seconds in silence before an idea pops into his head.

"Hey, can I touch it?"

Break Time

[dorkypantsuit]

[Ψii laughs as he sees Ginko swat at nothing, but he comes over to harass him more directly after only a moment.]

Do you need any help?

assuming ginko has told psii about mushi here LEMME KNOW IF I SHOULD CHANGE IT

[dontpokethat]

[Oh no he does not need this right now. Ginko shakes his head and shoves the rest of his funnel cake into his mouth to make room for his cigarette. It's only after he's breathed out a mouthful of repellent smoke that he answers, watching a few of the mushi wiggle and drift away.]

I'm good, thanks. These things are just being a little more persistent than usual.

Working

[cuckooed]

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.

[dontpokethat]

After a few more seconds of upset squirming, the animal slows to near-stillness. It gives one more squeak of protest, but it's a good bit less adamant now.

Ginko takes the opportunity to shift his hold on it to better immobilize it, giving a sigh of relief. "Thanks. It's being worse than usual today, for some reason."

Work

[liedtoyou]

Probably not an improvement, honestly. There's a fence nearby, where Machi--who is NOT working right now--was going to sit out of the way while he ate lunch. But then, of course, he was interrupted by some kind of disgusting, snarling animal. At first, he'd been afraid of it--he didn't want to give it his food, but he also really, really did not want to get bitten.

It had totally ignored him, though--the trash being more interesting, apparently--but even then, he'd been left sort of trapped there, unable to escape without either climbing straight a wall (physically impossible) or getting closer to the thing (which was not going to happen.)

Thankfully, Ginko showed up, and now he was sitting on the fence with a brisket sandwich and watching the deer-lizard-man fight with a disgusting, screeching mammal.

"Gross."

[dontpokethat]

Thanks for that input, Machi. Ginko grunts in reply and readjusts his grip on the animal. He'd really like to be able to hold its mouth shut so it can stop trying to bite him.

"Sure is." He glances over at Machi, flipping one ear up to keep it from getting caught in the thing's snapping teeth. "Sorry about your break getting interrupted."