livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: WISMUTH

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test drive meme

⇨ 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Maybe I am. [He's not some little kid anymore, he's matured enough to be a threat.]

And d'ya think I'm going to listen to ya?

[The answer was no, of course. Then again, how often did they listen to her?]

It doesn't matter if you listen to me or not. If Rin attempts to follow me, I will stop him.

What, y'gonna shoot him again?

[That would be the... third time? If Shura had hear Rin correctly, once in Aomori, once before. Good thing the Ringmaster didn't approve of guns!]

[Is he?

Nutrient bullets won't work, they keep Rin down for seconds, minutes at most. He'd have to--

he'd have to actually shoot Rin. The thought locks him up, and that cold dread claws down on his lungs and forces the air out of them.

He's going to shoot Rin.]

[Why doesn't he have a shitty comeback to that? That alone is in some ways more frightening than if he had simply given her a sarcastic answer. He was mulling over the answer, wasn't he?]

Four-eyes, I'm tellin' you, there's a better answer than this plan you got. Listen to me.

[They'd get the answers, maybe not as fast as Yukio wanted, but there was a better way. There had to be.]

[He-- hates this. He hates this. He's going to shoot Rin, he's going to try and kill Rin.

He... he's so...

He's the worst type of person. His knees give out, and he's on the ground again, raising shaking hands in front of his face. He's going to try and kill his brother.]

I have to find out. I don't have time.

[She reacts on instinct, setting aside the ice back on the counter as she follows him down to the floor, kneeling in front of him. What was she supposed to do with him like this? This was more than just trying to calm a fellow exorcist's panic attack in the middle of a mission.]

Yukio--

[Her hands come to his shoulders, and she's unsure what to do with them besides let them rest there, or even if he'll let her touch him like this.]

Yukio, look at me.

[He isn't crying. His eyes are dry and trying to breathe just chokes him, and he doesn't really look at Shura.

He laughs, gasping and desperate. He's so tired. He can't die.]

I'm the worst sort of person.

That's a pretty big claim, innit? Considerin' yer competition.

[Yes, he was prepared to do terrible things. Being willing to shoot your twin in order to get an answer was a pretty nasty trick. But this, all of this, was just part of an even nastier demon's plot. She'd kill Mephisto for bringing Yukio to this.]

Try to breathe for me, Four-eyes.

[He hasn't shrugged her off, so she keeps her hands on him, idly rubbing her thumbs back and forth.]

[He tilts forward, letting his head hit her shoulder. Let him stay here. Please just give him a minute.]

Just let me rest. [He says, gasping.] I'm tired.

[She expects him to pull away from her, not to lean in to her. She tenses as his head meets her shoulder, half afraid he's gone and fainted on her, but no, he's speaking in that weak way.]

You've made it pretty far like this, 'm not surprised.

[But even if she doesn't know what to do with him like this, she'll let him stay as long as he needed, slide her palms across his shoulders to embrace him.]

[There's an intensity to Wismuth that keeps catching him off guard, shortening the fuse on his temper and dragging everything else too close to the surface too quickly. Breathing hurts, like his constant undercurrent of self-loathing is somehow physically choking him, and he keeps gasping for air.

His hands fall to his lap, curling into fists with his nails digging into his palms. The pressure stings, but he doesn't want to cry, he can't cry, that isn't him anymore.

He made it pretty far.]

I can't stop.

[He should have made it further, the gentle press of Shura's embrace shouldn't make him feel like he's going to splinter into something unrecognizably broken. He needs to be stronger than this.

He's not. He's so weak, he's so pathetic, he needs to get stronger but he doesn't know how to do that without completely ruining everything he touches.]

[You can, she retorts in her head. But he's not willing to listen to her, and it wouldn't help to tell him when he was struggling with just getting through the moment. So she says nothing in reply for a moment, only softly exhaling through her nose and trying to give him a moment of quiet before she speaks.]

I can't force you to stop, no matter how much I don't like it.

[His fear and anxiety were eating him whole, and he wouldn't let a soul help him with it. She hates this helpless feeling.]

I'm pissed you kept it all a secret, but I can't make you do anythin' if that's what you're really set on.

You can't. [It's not about what he wants (he doesn't want this), it's about the impossibility.]

He killed dad.

[His voice cracks on the last word, breaking under the weight of something he's never been able to articulate before.

Whatever else he may have been, Fujimoto Shiro was the strongest person Yukio ever knew, the strongest person in his world. And the thing hiding in Yukio's eyes tore through him like he was nothing.]

[Had Yukio ever referred to Shiro as dad in front of her before? She can't recall a time he had, not even when they first met. Her heart aches at the word, the way his voice cracks.]

I know he killed him. An' now I know that Shiro was supposed to be designed to be possessed by a high class demon. [Her hands clench in his shirt, as if clinging to that would be enough to keep him from Satan or the Illuminati's claws.]

Shiro was stronger than anyone. That's why I can't leave you to fight it alone.

[She must be tired herself, she thinks, to be as close to verbally acknowledging her feelings in front of him.]

You have to. You have to let me do this alone.

[He doesn't move, doesn't reach out to her, doesn't pull away.

Neither of them acknowledge anything, but that doesn't keep the weight (loss, past and potential) from adding another layer to the pressure in his chest.]

... please.

Tch. It ain't like I'm makin' this choice lightly, y'know

[So maybe not a lot of deep thought had gone into it, but it was the kind of decision she wouldn't regret.]

Yer the one who wouldn't leave me in Aomori.

I'm not either! [He's not yelling, but there's an intensity to his voice that hints that he would be if this interaction hadn't left him exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed.]

You can't follow me. You can't help me. I have to do this alone.

[No one can help him. Not Shura, who's always bullied her way into his life. Not his brother, who keeps using his flames and trying to force others to accept him.

None of the people he considers his family can help him solve this problem.]

[Or what? The question hangs on the tip of her tongue. She could press him, keep on him until she was in the same state of exhaustion. What was it going to do? He had this weighing on him for months, all on top of everything else he buried inside of himself. This wasn't going to be solved by a heartfelt conversation with her. This wasn't simple as that.

She huffs, reaches a hand up to stroke his hair. This wasn't anything a kid like him should have to be thinking about.

We ain't gonna agree about it.

[If they carried on like this for the rest of the day, they'd achieve nothing.]

[She ruffles his hair, and he suddenly and sharply remembers Father Fujimoto.

He pulls back, breaking out of her grip without shoving his way out, his jaw tense and his expression schooled into determination. He isn't looking at her, his attention focused inwards. He's tired, exhausted, and "you should talk to someone".

Ha. This didn't help at all.]

You're right. We aren't.

[How can he protect anyone if they won't let him, if they insist on throwing themselves into danger?]

[She lets him withdraw without a word or fuss--in a way, it's easier to talk to him like this. But she does wonder--was it petting him, or was it what she said that made him pull away? Both? Even though he's talked a bit, he was still so closed off. In the end, had they taken a step back?]

It ain't often you admit I'm right.

[Her hands drop to her sides. Even now, he wasn't looking at her.]

You aren't often right. [He says, after a pause for a second too long. He's shoving himself back into equilibrium, pushing everything down behind a too-sharp smile as he stands to his feet. It's a fragile balance, everything stretched paper-thin over the roiling tension in his chest, but it is at least something that would pass muster in front of anyone who didn't know him.

Just don't push him again.]

Eh, whaddaya talkin' about? I'm almost always right, Wimpy Four-eyes.

[Just because he didn't like her decisions sometimes didn't mean she was any less right. She'll wait a moment before moving to stand as well, hands on her hips.]

Where are you staying?

[That was a safe topic, right? She didn't know if he could take much more looking like he was.]

[What does he have to do to shed that nickname? How much more does he have to prove himself?

And then Shura changes the topic entirely, shifts things quickly enough that Yukio feels unsettled. He tries not to let that show, but his smile stays that strained, stressed sort of thing.]

The Ringmaster provides accommodations for everyone who joins her Carnival. There are trailers in the back of the grounds, and most people share with a roommate. ["Most people", meaning "Yukio's somehow wound up with an entire trailer to himself".]

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