ringleaders: (Default)
Lost Carnival Mods ([personal profile] ringleaders) wrote in [community profile] livinglot2018-01-05 10:28 am
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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: WISMUTH

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.
  • Recruits can be either willing or tricked this month.
  • 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
WISMUTH

Wismuth is a large coastal city on the east shore of what would usually be the United States. The world it's part of is an Earth variant, meaning that while some aspects may be different, overall it will contain a similar look and feel to Earth many are accustomed to, including some overlapping celebrities, corporations, and technologies. Its most notable feature is that this planet is a part of what is called a 'Pillar of Creation' - a focal point of Creation's energies in the multiverse. The effects of this feature are the only aspect of the setting that will be relevant for this testdrive, as recruits will be entirely within the carnival as opposed to out in the city.

VIBRANCY OF CREATION: The immediate effects of this trait are that everything in Wismuth, and in the carnival because of its connection to Wismuth, is filled with an unusual sort of vibrancy - colours seem brighter, sounds seems to resonate more deeply, and all other physical sensations will strike visitors as oddly intense, including their own emotions. It's a subtle effect rather than anything that will be overtly disorientating, but it's almost as if everything is more "real" here than it is anywhere else. Obviously, the locals, whom are mostly just ordinary looking humans, have had plenty of time to grow accustomed to this. On the bright side, as a tourist, you have the opportunity to experiment with this sensation as a form of recreation.

Recruits from this month will be signing on with the carnival between Day 8 and Day 11 on the season calendar.

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!
betheman: (u fkin kiddin me m8)

[personal profile] betheman 2018-01-08 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
.........Yes.

[WELL AT LEAST HE'S CONTINUALLY HONEST...]

This is a Faerie Carnival-and Fae are, unfortunately, rather particular about their 'rules'...even one as lenient about them as the Ringmaster. Among her rules, is the matter of fair trade. If you did not properly pay for all that you participated in...then she requires you make up for that lack of pay!

[...But that said.] ...Naturally, it also means she will not let you leave until such a time...
exaomori: (🐍 7)

Re: spoilers...

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, so you're gonna talk to me now, huh?

[If she knew that he didn't know what she was talking about, would she still be so petty? Yes, of course.]

Who managed to paint your face, Four-eyes? I woulda thought you'd just rub it right off if someone pinned you down and put it on you.

[She'll just slip around his questions for now, dropping her gaze to his arm. He should still be wearing his sling. What happened? Did he get some kind of regenerative abilities with his spooky eyes?]
reflash: (why are 15 year olds so angry)

[personal profile] reflash 2018-01-08 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
What, don't you like it? [He says, with a twisted, mocking sort of smile. Somehow, the Ringmaster knows about his eyes, and she's decided to make a joke out of it.]
exaomori: <user name=worldlyafflictions> (🐍 50)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
[WELL she already figured out the game, even if it was too late to save herself, but she appreciates his honesty.]

A Fae thing, huh?

[Demon, faerie, they all boiled down to the same thing--not human. It wasn't always a bad thing, but this was a problem. a big one. Shura had enough of demon contracts. Even if the timing was better, she'd still but furious.]

Just what kinda pay is this Ringmaster expecting?
magicsprice: ([.]We can drive it home)

[personal profile] magicsprice 2018-01-08 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Gold noticed the fact that he'd judged the amount of challenge that might be present for her with this game rather well. Though it was apparent that with practice, she could get just as good at this, it would just take actual practice. Which meant she would fail before she won. It remained to be seen, however, how she would take that failure and if she would learn from it.

"I have no doubt you can win, with practice. You should give it another go."
betheman: (DENNISWASPROBABLYTOBLAME)

[personal profile] betheman 2018-01-08 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
She will expect employment, [He answers.] You would not have been able to see for yourself, but.... ...Whatever moment you entered here, it will still be that moment when you leave.

The Ringmaster will expect you to work here, for one year, and one day beyond it, in return for whichever debt you have incurred-from there, she will return you home.

[There is a...pause.] Unless, [He snorts,] You were to request a contract yourself, naturally..! Not all of those working here are doing so for debt! There is quite a lot she can do to help one who seeks aid!
exaomori: (🐍 21)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah, yes. That stupid fucking smirk of his.

It hurts, honestly.
]

It matches your eyes, doesn't it?

[His stupid eyes that he's been hiding for who knows how long. Was it because he was scared, or was he trying to hide it until he was strong enough that no one could restrain him? She doesn't know, and she doesn't understand.]
prazerbutterfly: (zpost exo - oh?)

[personal profile] prazerbutterfly 2018-01-08 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
He's fueling her fire and he's amused at how brightly it burned. Tyki loved getting people to indulge as much as he enjoyed watching a bright fire like hers get out of control. She had such passion and he absolutely loved it.

Yet both hands would raise in silent surrender as he let go of her hand to allow her the creative freedom she needed to make her own choice. She didn't have to shatter those mirrors. She could walk out now even if that was already going to be a problem given she had already shattered a mirror.

The grin was there in full force as she smashed another mirror with a vicious snarl. He'd apologize later. Right now he was just going to watch.
singinghuntress: (composed huntress)

[personal profile] singinghuntress 2018-01-08 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
How would she take the failure? Not well. She never did. If anything it made her angry to get a less than stellar score even if it was on her first try and demanded to have another round.

Would she learn? Well, she she was pretty focused on perfecting her technique now. That's just how the huntress was... she never gave up unless something made her give up.

"You're damned right I vill and I'll keep playing until zhis game iz eizher in ruins or I get zhe highest score possible."
reflash: (what does an everything bagel even have)

[personal profile] reflash 2018-01-08 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
[How does Shura know?

He didn't tell her, he hasn't told anyone, he's been desperately trying to figure it all out on his own and yet somehow, somehow she knows.

His expression gives it away, eyes wide as he steps back, heartrate and breathing picking up instantly. He's been hiding this for too long, and he's going to keep trying to hide it.
]

I don't know what you're talking about.
singinghuntress: (wartime prayers)

[personal profile] singinghuntress 2018-01-08 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
Then he was going to love her. Passion, fear, anger.. Rip felt them all to their fullest and always had. She was as playful as she was vicious and when her anger was ablaze, it was brighter than anything else!

She screamed in rage as she utterly smashed the mirror before her and then quickly turned around with inhuman speed to use her vampiric strength to break another... and another. Rip was causing a circle of destruction around them until her rage finally snuffed out and she collapsed to her knees, panting as her bloody hands pressed against the glass strewn floor.

Right now, she didn't feel the pain from them or even care that mirror shards were making her bleed even more and adding it to the mess at Tyki's feet. All she cared about was that the mirrors were finally quiet. The few that she didn't shatter were silent, her reflections watching her with manic fang filled grins and glowing blue eyes.

They knew she was caught... Rip just didn't know it yet.

prazerbutterfly: (fiesty arencha)

[personal profile] prazerbutterfly 2018-01-08 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Now, now. Don't go spoiling the surprise," he teases gently even if he was sure there were no souls in range of being able to hear his trick. At lot of people were aware he could pass himself through objects but not the nature of his actual power. He has his limits in the carnival, "I would appreciate if you kept that between us. It is my job to entertain."

And humanity, fae, and creatures alike enjoyed the thrill of sitting on the edges of their seats at something startling.

"It's a personal brand, as you put it." He's sure someone could replicate it but if they didn't' know the actual nature of his 'choice' then it would be a cheap knock off. "But many can learn a lot of magic here given time and patience."
exaomori: (🐍 7)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
[What, so no time was passing back home? That kind of thing was dangerous, not even Mephisto would do that.]

Time's standin' still? How do you know that for sure?

[Of course she'd take the willing contractors. This woman probably wasn't stupid, after all. Those were the easiest to manage.]
betheman: (MMMMMTHAT LOOKS BAD)

[personal profile] betheman 2018-01-08 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
[He'll stare for just a moment, in case, perhaps, she can take a guess. But hey.] Because I, the man Gongenzaka, saw it for myself, naturally..!

It is the reason which I took a contract myself; the opportunity to train here for such a time, without any time passing at home... ...it was a chance which I, the man Gongenzaka, could not afford to ignore!

[There is...a cough.] T-Though of course, she did not find that alone an acceptable trade for employment, so we were forced to settle upon a contract for a form of 'life insurance', so that I could be recovered in the event of anything unfortunate...

[Spoilers he has cashed that in Big Time]
exaomori: (🐍 45)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
[Seriously? He was going that route? That was the kind of thing Rin was stupid enough to try, not Yukio. Her brow furrows, following his retreat with a step forward. She will pursue.]

Yukio. I saw it with my own eyes. Why do you think you were confined? It wasn't just cause of what happened at the conference. You wouldn't say a damn thing to me then, but now you're trying to deny it?

[You're smarter than this?? What's going on here?]
prazerbutterfly: (with all my terrible wonder)

[personal profile] prazerbutterfly 2018-01-08 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
He stands there silently with a calm air about him. He's watching all that fire burn brightly from one mirror to the next until they are just quiet. Her fire dims as all fires do and she smothers herself to the ground with her rage dying.

It's beautiful and he absolutely loves it. Like a moth to a flame she was caught and it was only a matter of time until the Ringmaster caught up with her.

His body bends down as his hand extends out to her once more. He's offering his hand to help her up and he fully intends to cater to her now that she's breathless, "Come with me. There are better places than here, Miss Winkle."
reflash: (my biggest dream is to calm down)

[personal profile] reflash 2018-01-08 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
There's a time distortion. [He explains, or halfway explains as his mind races over all the information Shura just threw at him in a few short sentences.

Something happened, something big. Everyone knows. He can't hide it anymore.

He laughs, that stressed, exhausted breath of sound that escapes him too often these days. He slides a hand up under his glasses and rubs at his eyes for just a second.
]

Did... did you really see something?
singinghuntress: (rainy umbrella)

[personal profile] singinghuntress 2018-01-08 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Her body was trembling as she knelt there, just trying to catch her breath in the aftermath of her rage. With it burned down to smolders, she felt...empty at the moment, quiet.

With a little bit of reluctance she looks up at him and for a moment, she looks innocent and lost which was only added to by her deceptively youthful appearance. A few moments later, it was dashed away and replaced with a quietly calm look. She took his offered hand and let him help her up.

From her fit of rage, her hands were a bloody raw mess with the white gloves she usually wore stained crimson with shards sticking out. Yet, she wasn't wincing from pain. Obviously she felt it, but... Rip was ignoring it. This was the quiet after the storm passed.

"Just.. get me out of here und zomevhere more pleasant..please."
magicsprice: (pic#7709773)

[personal profile] magicsprice 2018-01-08 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
"I can be the very soul of secrecy." He replied to the request. It was certainly true, though perhaps he was a little too good at keeping them in some cases. "Interesting, though if I'm right about the nature of the one who runs this place, not entirely surprising."

He's heard the stories about places like this, given this is obviously an employee, perhaps he can get factual information instead of fantastical before he actually settles in for the long haul. So to speak.

"Does the Ringmaster of this place accept contracts for payment rendered in boons rather than financial recompensation by chance?"
exaomori: (🐍 13)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
A time distortion.

[She echoes, a serene expression falling over her face. The same kind of expression she got when someone tried to feed her an obviously bullshit line and expected her to believe it.

Except apparently she was somehow stuck in a Faerie circus and that was probably a decent explanation? It made much more sense for Yukio to not remember it happening rather than for him to tell her such a bald-faced lie. Shura sighs, expression falling as she raises her hand to her forehead to press her fingertips to her temple. She needed something to drink.
She needed that real bad, and she didn't have any faerie money to buy booze with.
]

I saw a lotta things over the last coupla hours. You tell me what you last remember, since last I saw, you had a broken arm, and that doesn't just heal overnight.

[If she had to explain what happened in Aomori to him...]
reflash: (why are 15 year olds so angry)

[personal profile] reflash 2018-01-08 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
I had a broken arm when I arrived here. My brother bought magical healing for me for a birthday present. [Not exactly an answer to her question, but he doesn't exactly have one. What was he doing? Things had been vague for a while, a dull, oppressive haze interspersed with flashes of too-real memories and stupid, impulsive actions.]
Edited 2018-01-08 05:50 (UTC)
exaomori: (🐍 21)

[personal profile] exaomori 2018-01-08 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Shura frowns. That's not a good answer. But was he dodging it, or could he really not remember. ]

Do you remember me calling you back from Kyoto?
prazerbutterfly: (yeah...)

[personal profile] prazerbutterfly 2018-01-08 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Tyki could effectively get under someone's skin both physically and mentally. With his power he felt invicible and cocky but he had learned a hard lesson in the last month since his arrival. He knew better than to take anything for granted and when such a prize was here in front of him he'd treat her like a lady.

He hummed lightly at the way her blood was seeping into his own gloves and his other hand passed over it and against her skin to pull gently at the material. It was then that she'd feel a tingle in her skin should the touch be allowed and glass that was once in her skin would pass from his fingers and just fall to the ground.

Carrot and stick. It was a decent way to tame people. "I know a place," he responds and if she allows him to still hold her hand, by her fingertips, he'll guide her out of the mirror maze. He knows the way and the path many times over. It's a decent travel out of it and towards the cookhouse where the atmosphere is cheery and the air is decent, "I was thinking the lake but that is a decent walk. The cookhouse is warm."
prazerbutterfly: (Default)

[personal profile] prazerbutterfly 2018-01-08 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"You'll forgive me if I can only take your word for it and nothing more, nothing less," because that's all he could go on right now. Well, he could always kill him but killing patrons likely wasn't a good idea. Plus, it wasn't so secret he couldn't just change his act and these patrons would move on just like everyone else.

At his question and his assumption Tyki begins to grin a little more cheerfully which breaks the usual warm smile he puts on for guests, "Yes, she does. Are you interested, Mister...?"
Edited (phrasing) 2018-01-08 15:57 (UTC)
flashover: (006 we're the stars of the human race)

[personal profile] flashover 2018-01-08 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, dude! It was kind of neat, actually. So... you don’t remember anything about being here before? [he takes one of his peach shaped cream cheese puffs and puts it in his mouth. What good is cooking all this food if you can’t eat it? ]

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