livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: NO ONE'S HOME

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's 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 (and should) read the full premise here.
Reserves and Applications are currently OPEN.
This month, applications can be for WILLING CHARACTERS ONLY. Meaning,
the Ringmaster will only be taking newbies on if they are willing to sign a year contract for one of her rewards.
You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years. In the case of veteran characters, you will need to come up with an explanation of why they haven't been around the carnival recently.
TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted, the players agree to it, and it makes any sense contextually.
If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Head Cook and Treasurer are currently open. Otherwise, we're pretty much down for anything, roles wise.

CURRENT STOP↴

⇨ NO ONE'S HOME ⇦
This winter break, things are a bit odd down in the carnival grounds. Reason being? Almost all of the workers are currently spending their vacation up on one of the carnival's two moons, enjoying the winter wonderland the Ringmaster created for them. This means that the actual carnival area is mostly abandoned, and in this case? Anyone turning up there is doing so by total mistake. Ostensibly the Ringmaster is enjoying the eggnog a bit too much.

This will only be happening for a day or two out of the holiday schedule, but during that time your character may find themselves arriving in a totally abandoned carnivval, which is not what anyone wants. They'll be left to wander alone until they encounter other visitors, or until someone from the carnival happens upon them while stopping at the grounds for whatever reason. All ther regular attractions apply, but they are unmanned by anything but the ghoulish spectres known as cinder sprites. Without the Ringmaster here, they won't even address you.

► ABANDONED: The carnival is completely empty, and it's dark out, and, well... it's sort of spooky? None of the attractions will be running, though nothing is stopping you from wandering inside with the cinder sprites not paying much attention. It's entirely possible you could get into some trouble like that, or maybe you're just totally freaked out and desperate to find someone who can send you home.

► WILLING CANDIDATES ONLY: For the most part, unless your character does something really dastardly, all applications this month must be from WILLING APPLICANTS ONLY. This means, once your character is eventually found, they must be willing to sign on with the carnival as a new hire for one of the Ringmaster's boons. No trickery this time around! Keep that in mind when applying.

► MONSTERS LURKING: While all the workers are gone, there are a few beasts that have been left to roam while everyone else is on vacation. Along with the cinder sprites, there is also an Alolan Exeggutor that wanders the forest looking for someone to smash, and the tentacle monster that lives in the Tunnel of Love. There's also a Slenderman, but don't worry about him. He's got the intelligence of an above average dog, and probably just wants to play fetch.

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. 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 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.

► TUNNEL OF "LOVE": A brand new attraction in the carnival, the Tunnel of Love is mostly what you'd expect from such a ride - two people sit in a boat together which journeys through some glitter filled caves, complete with mood music. Unfortunately, there is also something else in there with you... in the form a moody kraken living in the waters, who has very particular opinions about shipping, and may either stubbornly interfere with any attempted intimacy, or may politely encourage it. Or they may just generally be a dick if they're in no mood for either. The Ringmaster insists it is a romance expert.

► 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.

► 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.

► 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!

► DUNK TANK: Sometimes acting like a dick will earn you the gentle reprimand of being sent to work in the Dunk Tank for the afternoon - you know that game where people throw balls at a target, and if they hit it you get dropped into the water? It's like that, only sometimes there are daunting (but harmless) critters in the water, or some other strange magical affects to spice things up. Hopefully, the visitors will have bad aim.

► 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"...........Hauhhh..?" Well. Carly is confused now. She blinks, blinks again, and- "Pffhfhfhfhfh- Oh!!! It's probably not someone you know~!" she assures him, waving her hands. "This is an ~interdimensional~ carnival, you know~ There's millions and millions of different places, there's probably going to be SOMEONE with a name that sounds right, or even the same," she laughs, before blinking.

"I don't know why you'd ask if it's someone named 'Leo' though, unless that's someone you really don't like..? ....A-Anyway, they're not really in my department...it's just a little kid that my assistant sometimes talks about, really..."

Interdimensional carnival--

Interdimensionality, in Reiji's experience, does not decrease the likelihood of Leo Akaba's involvement in the slightest. Just the opposite; it all but guarantees it.

Even if the name didn't ring a bell, there's a chance another name will. But it's not question he wants to pursue too aggressively, lest word get back up through whatever chain of command or lateral grapevine leads back to the Professor's ear. Not yet, anyway.

So instead of answering, he waits, stone-faced. If he's patient, she will eventually fill the silence--and hopefully give him enough information to act on. Most people eventually do.

There is only one reason why Reiji's tactic is working, and that reason is- This is Carly.

His silence is, frankly, making her nervous. Very nervous. Her awkward light-exploding form is sort of quivering as she starts laughing quietly, looking very much like she wishes she hadn't started the conversation. "Aha....heh.... ....You really don't believe it huh...." Well.

"Well...I can prove it, then..! ...I think." she finishes, lamely. "I don't know who this 'Leo' guy is, but....unless you know a Reira Akaba, then it's definitely a really big fluke! Seriously! I've been to places like Atlantis, the inside of a computer, the land of dreams," she rattles off, counting off her fingers. "There was that place with all the robots, that was strange..."

Stop. Her.

"Reira!?"

Reiji takes a step forward, suddenly, not entirely heedless of the fact that he's somewhat blatantly given himself away. Then again--there are priorities to consider.

"What do you know of Reira Akaba?"

Bad move, Carly. Now he's... very, very serious.

"HEeeEEHHHHAAAAAHHH-" Woah. Woah woah woah-

Carly, for her part, floats an inch or so back, hands up and in front of her for her defense. She's still not...buying this but. "H-H-Hey, I just said it's probably coincidence right..!? I...I mean....a whole multiverse like that, with faerie..."

Wait a minute, this guy's a weed.

Why's she scared?! "A-And hold on!! You're the one in the carnival when we're all on vacation..!! How did you even get here!?"

"I walked," Reiji replies in all seriousness. It's not actually clear whether he's being serious or whether that's a bullshit answer or what, but he doesn't leave Carly a lot of room to dwell on it.

"Now tell me where to find Reira Akaba."

The 'interdimensional carnival' excuse holds no weight with him; the name 'Akaba' is not a coincidence, no matter what dimension you go to. Not in his experience.

If by some stroke the Reira Akaba he finds is not the Reira Akaba he knows... then mark him a fool. ~~It won't be the first time.~~

Naturally, Carly is two seconds away from further protest when Reiji brings that answer. No, he can't have walked, the Carnival is CLOSED, they are on VACATION, and-

...And...he's apparently looking for the kid. Carly stiffens, and 'calms' as best as she typically can, frowning. "...No," she answers flatly.

"I'm not just going to bring you to one of our members, when I don't know who you are! ...Other than your name, I mean..!" the woman adds with crossed arms. "Right now, I should be escorting you back to the gate if anything..!"

No?

Reiji's expression doesn't change a jot, but inside....

Well. He's not going to make an unnecessary scene. But she can't really force him, can she? (That's a hypothetical question. If she could, she presumably would have already.)

"Then do so," Reiji replies, but his calm is deceptive; he has absolutely no intention of leaving.

"Eh?" Well. That sure throws her off. Carly frowns, narrowing her eyes.

"....How do I know you won't just come back inside then..." She absolutely COULD drag him to the gates if she wanted, actually, it's just she was so caught off guard by the fact that someone was here at all that it never occurred to her honestly...

"And do what? Get caught and thrown out again?"

Truthfully, Reiji intends to scope out the area and see if he can find himself a different path before he tries just walking back in through the gates, but she doesn't need to know that.

"There's no need to escort. I can find my way back to the gate on my own. But I would appreciate it if you would pass a message on to Reira. Through the gates of the carnival proper passed the one who gave you the power in your eye."

Because that's a normal thing that normal people say, Reiji.

"Sorry for the intrusion. If that's all... I'll see myself out."

He's already turning to leave.

Or. Well.

'Leave.'

"Eh..?" She...blinks at that message. "Wha-" There's not really time to question it however, as Reiji turns to leave.

Will she pass it on? Yes, maybe, probably but probably not quite in the right phrasing of things, and before that she follows Reiji discretely in the form of a hummingbird-justttt to make sure he passes those gates.

Unfortunately, Carnival Limits aren't technically just the gates but. Well, whatever, she deemed it fine enough and left.

Which naturally will give Someone plenty of time to catch the ire of a wandering 'tree'.

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: NO ONE'S HOME

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dats a wrap-