Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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livinglot2018-01-03 02:53 pm
ringleaders) wrote in livinglot2018-01-03 02:53 pm
⇨ GUARDIANS & HARBINGERS
STAR GUARDIANS↴ ► COLOURS: White/Gold/Accent Colour (Accent Colours are based on one's Soul Colour.) ► STYLE: Bright, fashionable, star-motifs, modern aesthetics, a tendency towards mini skirts and tall boots. Sometimes, inhuman features appear based on their familiar. ► MAGIC: "Spark" based power, manifested in the form of a magic weapon, a familiar, a familiar that turns into a weapon, or some mixture of these elements. ► TRANSFORMATIONS: Full of colours, lights, and anime nudity, they are a wonder to behold. Historically speaking, most Star Guardians are women, but that is not exclusively the case. Magic uniforms tend towards being feminine, but are largely based on the Guardian's personality, and so can manifest as appropriately masculine when needed. The "Spark" is a magical focus that comes from the soul - all souls have the capability of manifesting a Spark, but it is a rare few that manage to fully harness their capabilities with the aid of Creation. A Spark is a passion, skill, or interest that becomes enhanced to the point of being almost godly. For example, a skilled musician could manifest their instrument as a weapon, and use their magic to sway the hearts of a crowd, or perhaps use its pitch to shatter stone. A lover of animals could use their bond to communicate with the wild, or summon magical beasts to their aid. The possibilities are endless, each Spark leading to its own realm of potential. The more skilled a Guardian, the better use they will get out of their Spark, and the more it will enhance their general capabilities, such a speed, strength, and endurance. The powers of a Spark are mostly only in effect when the Guardian is transformed, which they can do but summoning the Spark from their soul and allowing it to manifest as their uniform and weaponry, in a magical light sequence that seems to both take a long time and no time at all. Familiars can be created by the Spark or uplifted from mundane (or not so mundane) animals that the Guardian kept as a companion. While the Guardian is transformed, that familiar will become able to speak, and will be endowed with a small amount of wisdom from Creation in order to help guide their choices. A Star Guardian's power is based on their creative potential: on the amount of light inside of them, metaphorically speaking. Those with the most to bring to the world around them will have the most to bring to the team as a Guardian. HARBINGERS OF VOID↴  ► COLOURS: Black/Gunmetal/Accent Colour (Accent Colours are based on one's Soul Colour.) ► STYLE: Gothic, elegant, formal, old fashioned, cloaks, cowls, robes, gowns, jewelry with no particular iconography or symbols, armor pieces. Sometimes, inhuman features appear, like horns or spikes. ► MAGIC: Corrupted "Spark" based power, manifested in the form of a magic weapon. They can have familiars also, but they don't have the connection required to have the familiar/weapon combo. They use their magic as a tool towards an end. ► TRANSFORMATIONS: Badass, creepy, and sometimes a bit traumatic, these sequences often involve some mild body horror and general discomfort - but boy does it look metal! Like the Star Guardians, most Harbingers are women. Aesthetics come across as a bit gloomy and concealing - while Star Guardians dress confidently and openly, the Harbingers hide behind clothing like a shield. Though they can use familiars as mounts and attack dogs, they lack the connection to fully utilize them as a spiritual weapon. The Harbingers also tap into their Spark to attain power, but in this case the power of that Spark is inverted. The Harbinger's intention is to destroy reality, and they are willing and ready to destroy their own Spark along with it. A Harbinger of Hope will use that hope to destroy hope. A Harbinger of Dance will use their rhythm to take away joy. That most inner part of their soul has been corrupted, and redeeming them can feel impossible at times, even though it isn't. Even if a Harbinger signed on to the Void willingly, being made into one corrupts them more deeply than they might have anticipated. The Void will find reasons within them, ways to turn them against the Creation from which they were born. This can make them temperamental or irrational at times, but they are aware of what they're doing. Their personality and desires have simply been changed to accommodate the Void's goals. They can be purified with great effort and willpower, but it's no easy task. Most Harbingers were never truly given a choice. Harbinger familiars cannot speak, unless they could already, though they can be corrupted out of existing creatures. Much like Star Guardians, Harbingers are chosen for their creative potential - a great inner light is sought, because they greater the light, the more violently it can be inverted. The light of a powerful Spark collapses like a dying star, creating the Void inside them. OOC INFORMATION↴ ► AVAILABLE SLOTS: There will be 12 Guardians recruited willingly, and 12 Harbinger corrupted unwillingly. (Or willingly, if your character is a freak, but that will probably be seen as treachery against the carnival.) You may only submit one character for this purpose, unless there end up being left over slots, in which case you can choose a second. ► IC RESPONSIBILITIES: If you take a slot, it is expected that you will have the ability to be reasonably active in this event, since you are taking a position that is in limited supply. If you are uncertain about your ability to keep up, consider waiting before grabbing a slot. Not every recruit will be constantly required for plot to move on, but the mods will be unhappy to see slots getting wasted. ► SLOT CLAIMING: Slot claiming will open up on Friday. If more than 12 of each apply, then you will have the opportunity to guarantee your entry with AC points via a bidding system. The remainder will be chosen from the list of applicants via RNG. |
⇨ HARBINGERS OF VOID APPLICATIONS
► CHARACTER NAME: Self explanatory.
► MAXIMUM AC BID: In this place, please respond with how many AC points (at maximum) you are able/willing to pay for the ability to guarantee yourself a slot. You can bid "30 pts", "20 pts", "10 pts", or "0 pts". In the event that there is overflow, those with the highest bids will get first dibs. You will only have to pay the minimum amount you'd have to pay to stay in the running, however, if you end up securing a slot. Those in the lowest bid category will the the ones put into the RNG roll if there is overflow.
THERE ARE 12 SLOTS FOR HARBINGERS OF VOID.
Remember, you can only submit an application for one character, if you have multiple. Please be realistic about your ability to participate, and avoid taking a role if you have reason to expect your time for the game will be limited over the next month. The mods will be paying attention to activity, and under-utilizing a slot may affect your ability to take up limit plot slots in the future.
If there are open slots remaining at the end of the first round of submissions (the first round will end Saturday night) then you will have the opportunity to request a second slot for an second character.
STEVEN UNIVERSE
► INTENSITY: 9
► EXPLANATION: Steven is more or less the heart and soul of his canon, and seems to be on an inevitable track towards shaping the fate of more than one world. He inspires positive change in almost everyone he meets, and would do just about anything to make the world a better place for the people around him. He's still young, but with abilities centering around growth, healing, and protection, he has a lot of offer to others. He's also creatively talented in a number of ways, including being a musical prodigy and not being too shabby at art, either.
► FAMILIAR: Amethyst and Lion are going to become his familiars. His weapon is still just going to be his shield with some thorns on it.
► POWER: On the most basic level, Steven's Spark of Growth will be enhancing his existing abilities of healing, plant growth/manipulation, and the ability to accelerate or take away from his own "growth" by aging and de-aging based on his emotions. He'll be able to "grow" plants into living creatures that will serve as minions, as well as steal "growth" from people by de-aging them into children if he can get his vines on them. He's also going to be aging himself up to a teenager, just like he should be.
While definitely literal, his power of growth is also metaphorical, in that he strives towards positive development in himself and inspires positive development in others. Many people around him have become better and stronger people as a result of their relationships, and he never lets up on wanting to improve himself, either. So he also has the potential to cause people to regress emotionally if he can poison them, though those effects will be temporary on player characters.
CARLY NAGISA
► INTENSITY: 8
► EXPLANATION: While Carly was no protagonist in canon, she's unearthed a lot of potential through the Carnival-and more importantly there's potential to be drawn from canon itself. Her desires as word-for-word put involve doing anything she can to not only help people toward their dreams, but do so in a way that creates more joy and happiness in the world. This mindset of hers single-handedly turns a rival character from someone who would risk people's lives to further his goals, into someone who willingly sacrifices himself for the sake of a greater good.
It's a passive sort of method, but one that can very much change how the active forces of the playing field are moving; so while it's not Maximum Intensity, it's still pretty intense-especially now that she has more of the confidence to actually try.
► FAMILIAR: Nuna the Marowak will be joining Carly as her familiar; when all powered up with things divided between them, she'll go from being Standard Marowak Size to Totem Size And Kinda Scary. RAD...
Carly will also have a Weapon, namely her cursed bow from the Manor. ....It won't be used for actual arrows though, just. Launching strings to other places. Nyoom-
► POWER: At its best, and Proper Positive State, 'Fulfillment' would have meant giving someone the final boost they needed to move onward, pulling someone toward the future or simply revealing for them the path ahead.
As a Harbringer, Carly's power naturally reverses; instead of pulling people toward success, she pulls them into failure, obscures the path instead of revealing it, etc etc.
Carly will first and foremost have her Fire-Magic, combined with the strings that factor heavily into her costume. This is largely useful for creating traps and barriers; webs, snares, and tripwires with strings, while the Demon Fire (which naturally drains energy) creates entire walls, forcing others to either pass through without knowing what's beyond/dealing with a drain in power, or simply turn another direction.
More directly, she'll be using her bow to not only launch her fire and strings at others, but use said string to start throwing things around. Like trashbins. Or bikes.
Or maybe people. (Naturally, actually being able to swing a Guardian around will vary entirely on That Guardian-not to mention how successful any traps and snares are)
Fitting in with existing weird summons and over-the-top-nonsense most of this will probably be preceded by weird playing around with strings in her hands. NONSENSE HAND MOTIONS Makes a spiderweb
HERBERT WEST
► INTENSITY: 9.
► EXPLANATION: Herbert's entire life is centred around his scientific creativity and his purpose of defeating death. And he literally never gives up on it, no matter the odds, no matter the results. He gets attacked every time by his creations and keeps trying his serum. He tries to create new life by adjusting his serum. He's in prison for 13 years with minimal resources and manages to invent soul jars. His tenacity makes him unstoppable.
► FAMILIAR: His familiar is a big male maribou stork that comes up to his shoulder.
► POWER: His weapon manifests as syringes, large metal and glass ones from the early 20th century full of reagent. He fights predominately from a distance if possible, his powers are all sharp, needles and sharp lashing reagent. He can also raise the dead as aggressive reagent corpses like in the film, reaching into them or pulling them up through the ground and assembling what flesh is left into shambled together creations if they've gone rotten.
INQUISITOR LAVELLAN
► INTENSITY: 9
► EXPLANATION: Lavellan is the protagonist of the game Dragon Age: Inquisition, which makes her pretty protagonist on the scale. But moreover than that -- she is the singular force that shapes Thedas over the course of the game. It's less about her potential and more about the fact that she has; she's fought for Thedas again and again, and used her talents and desires to shape it -- Lavellan has attempted to make her continent a better place, and while if she's succeeded or not (and who has she made it a better place for) is up for debate, she's still a wildly talented individual who's sheer force of will and political position make her capable of influencing her world.
► FAMILIAR: A raven, but a raven from Thedas. Which means it looks like this, unfortunately.
► POWER: Ability to detect truth/lies; not so much what exactly is being lied about so much as a general this is not the truth. Doesn't extend to someone talking around the truth unless it's in a way that is untrue. Possibly forcing people to tell the truth as well, once physical contact has been made with them -- this would only be done by player agreement as well, should they want it. I'd like to also lean on the corrupting idea of the Harbingers to give her some shadow/secret related powers -- teleportation through shadows, maybe? She's already a powerful mage, and I assume that much stays. I'M THE WORST AT THIS more to come as i dwell upon this further.
EDIT: shadow powers -- teleportation/formation of shadowy figures that can do some amount of damage/physically interact with the world. only for a few seconds at a time so that with her regular mage powers it's not too OP. but wolves that could become solid and bite someone or force down a door, dragons that could produce flame for a second or two, the like. might be too OP, so willing to cut it down to "can produce them but can't actually make them interact with the world" as well!
TAAKO
► INTENSITY: 8
► EXPLANATION: Taako's entire personality is hugely impacted by his love for his sister and their growing up together; this is demonstrated in canon by his personality before he remembers her being much more aloof and closed off, while, when he does remember her, he actually displays empathy and even kindness. The inversion of this love is based on a canon scene in which he recalls Lup's existence, and realizes that a friend of his betrayed him to erase those memories of her; he has a meltdown, nearly killing the one responsible before he's finally talked down. That anger and loss of hope will define him as a Harbinger, and he inflicts it on others in turn, spreading his despair.
► FAMILIAR: A phoenix. Given it's a huge predatory bird, it'll be capable of doing all the things they can already do, and it will be capable of giving those who touch its feathers severe burns.
► POWER: The ability to manipulate the bonds between people and objects. He will be capable of either suppressing those bonds-- forcing people to be unable to recall their loved ones in some capacity, either just erasing aspects of them or locking them away entirely-- or of forming intense artificial bonds between others and himself to make people serve him.
YUGO
► INTENSITY: 7
► EXPLANATION: Yugo's idiocy lies in being socially inept to a ridiculous degree, so it would explain why he had only a single friend while growing up... if one ignores it was an orchestrated setup.
For Rin, he has undying loyalty that propels him across dimensions and into the unknown, to the point he rarely knows or understands what he's getting into. For Yuzu he's willing to do anything that he thinks would help her. When Yugo bonds with someone, he gives no less than his all. This passion gives him the strength to fight in their name, believe in them, or inspire faith in himself that there's nothing he can't do.
Yugo's intense loyalty to the people he bonds with also means he acts in ways that change the world around him in extremes- his drive through the series is constantly used to throw the people and plot off balance, making his power a strong one.
► FAMILIAR: Yugo's familiar will be his dragon- Clear Wing, however due to the Harbringer corruption they are in its "Supreme King Servant Dragon" form. And the dragon is full-sized so that Yugo can ride on their back or sic them on someone like an attack dog.
► POWER: Aside from the plasma breath he already had... Yugo can seed "crystals" into people's hearts through cuts made by the Feather Blade he has. They inspire animosity and pain like a heart attack. Where Yuugo originally found (metaphorical) strength from his friends, his Harbringer self gains (literal) power from conflict- the bigger the crystals get, the more power he receives.
They're also magic crystals so they can't cause actual physical damage, but they can grow to become heavy and awkward if left to "fester". Fortunately for the victim though, they will melt if they have strong enough feelings of love or friendship.
CHILDERMASS
► SPARK: Fortune
► INTENSITY: 7
► EXPLANATION: Childermass is not the main character of his canon, even if he does play a big role in it. He is, however, at the point he's from, gearing up to try and wrangle the epic mess (even if it's a good mess, in his opinion) left behind by the actual protagonists. His future may not be the most fun-sounding, but it does hold a lot of potential for him to create a lot — magic, magical politics, help train new magicians, etc. That said, his Spark of Fortune plays more off of his previous and current experiences as a thief (taking fortune) as well as plays directly to his fortune-telling rather than his future as a magician so I figure 7 is fine. Stealing and telling fortunes aren't exactly a passion, but he is a man of few passions and so this focuses more on his talents, which for those, he has in spades.
► FAMILIAR: Baker, his Arcanine. Baker was on him via Pokeball at the time of corruption and it extended to him as well. He is now kept in one of his weaponized tarot cards, Strength, in place of the Pokeball. He will look like this when summoned, only more blue-toned to match Childermass's soul color.
► POWER: Along with his usual range of shadowy tricks, he'll have his shiny new Tarot Spell Cards! Thanks to this entire magical girl bs, a deck of tarot cards are his weapon of choice and the focus of his powers. The Major Arcana do a variety of things, listed here with the exception of two, which are The Hermit (Searching, a location spell that lets him find people and items) and Temperance (Balance, a spell that throws people off balance by causing the entire room to turn on one side or upside-down ala cool Inception fight scenes; the effect is temporary, but the mess it makes is real). Minor arcana are basically just supernaturally sharp throwing cards (like ninja stars, but.... cards.... and no, they do not explode, they just return to the deck unless destroyed).
TANYUU KARIBUSA
► INTENSITY: 8
► EXPLANATION: The balance of nature has always been a very important concept to Tanyuu, and one she has worked most of her life to protect. Having the Forbidden Mushi in her leg meant that not only were much of her efforts focused on containing that, but she also could not make a personal impact in a direct way. However, she is shown multiple times to have used her influence to ensure that others act as her hands and eyes out in the world--a letter from her allowed Ginko access to lands under the care of a high-ranking family to investigate a disturbance, and during a solar eclipse she was able to position a multitude of mushishi across Japan in order to combat a possible threat. Though her goals and methods are not flashy or hugely visible, her will is far reaching--possibly farther than that of other scribes in the past.
Also, she argued RM out of taking a mountain god as a pet, so, you know. She spicy.
► FAMILIAR: Keiko will be Tanyuu's familiar, while Haruki is going to be hiding with Ginko and dealing with none of this nonsense.
► POWER: Tanyuu's power is centered through her ink-brush, which has been her greatest tool her entire life. She writes characters in the air which then form into a spell, 're-balancing' the battlefield by shifting the landscape, hindering her foes abilities, or enhancing her allies. She will also be able to create things out of ink, including living creatures--and since she has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of thousands of very dangerous mushi, she is going to be able to wreak a lot of havoc on the civilian populace.
Mari Makinami Illuminati
► INTENSITY: 9
► EXPLANATION: 'The Fate of Destruction is also the Joy of Rebirth' is a (the?) biggest theme in Evangelion, besides (and in addition to) the realisation of self. On an in-character level, Mari is already representative of this phrase, as she is known to be actively working towards the destruction of the Angels and appears to be invested in furthering the Final Impact, or perhaps a specific form of that Impact. On a meta level, Hideaki Anno himself only knew he wanted Mari to "destroy Eva" when he first onceived of her (and then leftit for someone else to figure out.) Mari's frighteningly thorough knowledge of not only the Eva units themselves but the machinations of other characters and organisations gives her a means with which to destroy 'Eva' from inside out, and she's continued that pattern in Lost Carnival. She more or less weaponises her knowledge to affect the outcomes she wants.
► FAMILIAR: Peacat, turned into a strange eyes-cat and now called Tabris. (Note: in Evangelion, Tabris is the Angel of Free Will and the Angel of Betrayal. The final angel. Most people know him as Kaworu Nagisa, though.) Because he's her only familiar, he gets the full share of her power.
► POWER: Other than the continued (mis)use of her miniature Lance of Longinus, Mari's power is the manipulation of probability--you know, fate. In combat, this is mostly used to ensure her attacks always hit (or rather, "don't miss"--conveniently mirroring a canon uote, "when I aim, I don't miss!") and that others' attacks are less likely to land. Now that I'm typing this, I realise it actually functions not unlike Vriska's luck from Homestuck. It's basically just shy of a reality marble. Which is to say, if she has a bag of 99 black marbles and 1 white marble, she can pull the white one out (almost?) every time. If she has a bag of 100 black marbles, though, she still can't produce a white one.
PAPYRUS
► SPARK: Dreams
► INTENSITY: 8
► EXPLANATION: Papyrus is part of the heart and soul of his home universe - when he is killed, an entire town feels colder and sadder, and a happy ending isn't possible; people may rise up in revolt against the surviving monarch, yield to the celebrityrant's designs, or even slowly give up on hope altogether. That said, he's not a 9 or 10, he's not influential enough to prevent all of these things if enough others die. The rest of the high rating is in things like, he's an artsy person who redesigns the road through town, painting a rock formation to resemble a bridge, and experimenting with his magic to make Cool Designs. And while he's not the protagonist of his game, he's an important side character who bridges the gap to bring the protagonist into the clutches of friendship with some of the other major characters. He loves the power of friendship.
► FAMILIAR: None; Papyrus is working with what he already has, twisted and enhanced by the void. Summoned bones grind down to a dusty powder that enhances his new powers.
► POWER: The Spark of Dreams is a force of optimism, recuperation, and renewal. In a Guardian's hands it could be a subtle supportive power; a slight sprinkling of dust would help people see the silver lining, to approach challenges with hope and confidence, more bringing on hallucinatory impressions that distract people from fighting, and the heaviest doses forcing lethargy and restfulness, to push them to sleeping with happy, healing dreams.
In Harbinger Papyrus' hands, it can be used in those ways, but the force of the Void encourages him to push it and twist it. The confidence boost of a mild sprinkling also brings arrogance, an unwillingness to think things through - living buoyed by hopes and dreams alone. And as Papyrus is living with the dreadful certainty that everything must end and die, and he personally has to help make that happen... Pleasant dreams might become comas, so those afflicted by the dust never have to wake before the end of things. And dreams and waking hallucinations alike can be twisted from happy healing things to reflections of fears, nightmares.
Mechanically, Harbinger Papyrus' new powers depend on flinging dust at people, on the proximity necessary to get at them.
(edit to add:) All of that's the default, basic use he starts the event with. But since he's forming the dust in the shape of bones, he can manipulate them around in much the same fashion he does his own monster magic bones - and since these bones are more fragile, being crushed dust in the shape of a bone, he can collide them to shatter and spread dust over a large area. He figures this out partway through the event, in lethally frightening circumstances. It's great for influencing large numbers of mundane NPCs with low willpower, or seriously harming a monster vulnerable to intent. Star Guardians, familiars, and anybody who's very aware of themselves and able to work through panic and hallucinations (Batman, looking at you, even though you're not in the game) would be resistant to it all. And the kind of effect in the dust is dependent on what he charges it with when he makes it. A bone full of happy dreams of food can't change to one full of nightmares unless it's in his hands.
TL;DR, Evil Sandman.
SUSAN
► MAXIMUM AC BID: 30 pts
no subject
Connie Maheswaran
► SPARK: Choice
Connie's parents, while well-intentioned, have carefully curated most of Connie's childhood, from her extracurricular activities to her media diet to her actual literal diet. This has led to her often delighting in bending and sometimes breaking rules to find her own independence.
► INTENSITY: 7
► EXPLANATION: Connie has strong spirit and ability, but it is hampered by her confidence.
► FAMILIAR: Lapis Lazuli and Peridot
► POWER: By inversing the power of Choice, Connie will be able to cloud people's decisionmaking abilities. Those affected will have trouble making decisions on their own, having mild to crippling levels of indecision. The main vehicle behind this power will be some possibly familiar little robot things that she creates and controls. They spray a seafoam blue goo that afflicts both people and technology alike with the inability to choose.
Each of Connie's guantlets has a slot designed for each of her familiar's gems. Inserting the gem allows Connie to tap into the powers of the familiar and augment her own abilities.
RENZOU SHIMA | Spark: Perception, Intensity: 4
► INTENSITY: 4
► EXPLANATION: Shima's intensity is always wavering on the edge of flipping from being a detrimental force to a positive influence, but the track he's on right now is actively damaging to the mental health of the people around him, and the world at large as a consequence of that. It's through peoples' perceptions of him and his perceptiveness of others that he manipulates them into some pretty awful crisis situations, and also how he points the way to them for getting back out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► FAMILIAR: Yamantaka...? He has too many neato powers and will instead be difficult for Shima to summon, as Shima's will has been subsumed by the Void's. If he's pushed to do it Yamantaka is more likely to go out of control and attack people indiscriminately--it's an instant KO for everyone within a ~plot relevant~ range.
► POWER: Low level illusion and perception trickery, including things like self-perception and feelings to do with that. He can change what you are seeing, feeling-via-touch, hearing... He can turn himself invisible! He could also turn your clothes invisible. It's still there you just can't see it. His influence increases the longer someone spends time with him and may start including more of each sense.