livinglot | ⇨ Test Drive Meme: EDEN (Rescued Captives)

⇨ Test Drive Meme: EDEN (Rescued Captives)

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! We've changed a lot this time around and have introduced a whole new method of entering the game. Before we get started, let's lay down some details:

You can (and should) read the plot FAQ here.
Reserves and Applications are currently OPEN.
This round, new characters will be entering as rescued captives. Initially stolen away into this world by the leader of Eden, they will be rescued by current characters as part of an in-game event.
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. They will arrive in the carnival grounds with no entry log necessary.
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.

CURRENT SCENARIO↴

⇨ GARDEN OF EDEN ⇦
Eden is a magical, almost idyllic realm created by a powerful nephalem, with the specific purpose of finding a way to craft the perfect mortal soul. Above ground there are beautiful forest, gardens, and architecture that is otherworldly in its splendor. You, however, don't get to see most of that, because you have been brought to its underground prison, locked away like a zoo animal to be studied by the locals. This is extra weird because everyone living in Eden is some kind of uplifted animal - the beings attending to you are a diverse assortment of species, all with the ability to talk and apparently bend reality.

The underground garden you're being kept in doesn't look like a prison at first. Despite its lack of natural light, it's well decorated with plant life and various water features, its trees growing enough fruit to sustain you indefinitely. But there's no way out. It's just you and the other captives, and occasionally one of Eden's beasts coming in to check on you, or drag someone out to be examined. It's like being abducted by UFOs if the UFOs were talking animals, and the spaceship was a magical realm.

You may have noticed by now that, eventually, individual test subjects stop being returned to the garden. You could imagine this is because they've been released, but realistically, you suspect it's something much worse.

► THE MIRROR: The first thing you remember of your stay in Eden is seeing a mirror, its pristine silver surface being all that you can focus on. You don't know how you got there, only that the reflection seems to reach inside of you and pull something out, as if it's splitting you in half to create your mirror image. Eventually, you lose consciousness, and wake up in the garden prison. It took you a while to get the chance to talk to any of the animals, and they are disinclined to give you anything but the most basic of information - what to eat, where to sleep. They don't seem to want to get attached.

► THE GARDENS: There's not much to do in the garden, besides lounge around and maybe speak with your fellow captives. They have more information for you than any of the animals will - some of them are human, but some of them are obviously alien, telling tales of different worlds far beyond your experience. The lights dim at night and brighten in the day, but there's no outdoors to be seen. There are cushions and blankets laying on the grass for you to sleep on, but there are no beds. No one who has gotten violent towards the animals that attend to you has come back after being hauled off.

► SOMETHING MISSING: Since the moment you've arrived, no magic or powers you had previously have worked. More than that, you feel like something inside of you is missing - like some part of your soul never came back from being split into that mirror you saw. Maybe that's an abstract idea for you, maybe you don't believe in souls. Yet, now it's an instinctive feeling that is hard to put out of your mind. What did they take from you? Can you get it back?

► WILD CARD: Want to try some threads with the assumption that your character is already with the carnival? 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 run the obstacle course? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals! These prompts will be considered non-canon, unless you are applying as a veteran.

Recruits from this month will be signing on with the carnival in an entry log that will be posted around the start of August. You can view the in-game calendar here.

ENTRY STATUS↴

Approved characters will arrive as part of an in-game event log which will cover their rescue. TDM threads are meant to be pre-rescue circumstances, and current players will be tagging in as NPCs or other captured characters.
Characters rescued from Eden can have been imprisoned in the gardens for anywhere from a single day to up to three months. Good luck keeping track, though, there's no clocks down here.
Characters rescued from the gardens will be mostly depowered at the time, but will get their powers back by the end of the event.
Characters will be imprisoned with only the clothes on their back. All items will have been confiscated, but can potentially be retrieved in the event log.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He stole shit, obviously! A lot of shit. Over some 19 generations of Niwas and counting.

"Ears too," he notes, tapping a finger to the side of his head in illustration.

"Most animals hear a lot better than you humans."

"You say that as if you aren't human yourself." She tilts her head to the side ever so slightly, a teasing smile on her face. "Unless you really are planning on cosplaying as one of those animals. Don't worry. I won't judge."

He shrugs. Let her think whatever's easiest. It's not like he has either the magic or desire to prove he isn't human.

"What do I care what some random guy thinks?"

She blinks before she covers her mouth, holding back a laugh. Right. She was still in her uniform so she supposed it made sense he would think that. Not that she minded, either way.

"You're right. It is your choice what you do, after all. Just trying to look out for you."

Okay, maybe he cares a little. That stifled laugh pisses the thief off. But that's alright. He reaches over to ruffle the 'boy's' hair.

"That's sweet, but you're 100 years early to be looking out for me, kid."

"Ah, hey!" Ah, great, her hair is going to be a mess now. Oh, wait, she didn't care. Those damn rich people. Actually making her want to take care of her hair and shit. To rebel, Haruhi places her hands into her lap.

"Wait, huh? For one thing I am definitely not a kid. For the second thing, what do you mean by 100 years early? You're not one of those people who think they were born in the wrong generation or something, are you?"

"Ooh?" He smirked outright at her, shoving his hands back in his pocket.

"You'll have to figure that out for yourself. It'll give you something to do besides pull up grass."

"Ah. I already figured it out," Haruhi shoots back. "You're probably just messing with me. That and or you have an ego as big as the sun itself and believe yourself to be beyond the mortal realm or something just as silly." That is her theory anyways. She believes in a world where tiny 18-year-olds can work in host clubs. She did. She really did. She worked with one, after all. But people being beyond a hundred years old? That's just an insult to her intelligence.

"That Phantom Thief Dark facade will only last for so long before it just becomes uninteresting. That's just how most myths and legends go." She pulls up yet another patch of grass, looking at the blades in her hand. Damn. Those were short that time. "But what do I know? I'm just some guy." She says blandly, scattering them back onto the grass.

It's a little bit of everything, really. That's half the fun of being a phantom thief-- he's a character shrouded in mystery, and that annoys the people it doesn't charm.

"Not much, if you've never heard of me. But that's your loss." His ego may actually be larger than the sun, it's hard to say.

Her eye twitches ever so slightly. This guy and his ego...he certainly was something else entirely. "Yeah, yeah. Though I think I'm fine with not knowing who you are. At least that whole Phantom Thief Dark facade you've got going on." She looks away with a smile. "He seems like a total..." What's the word? Jerk? No no. Something stronger than that. She'd...think of it later.

"Well, I'm Haruhi. No super fancy title...sort of."

"It's not a facade," he feels the need to point out. "Dark is my name." No, really. But he eyes her with a look of suspicion that edges towards boredom.

"Isn't Haruhi a girl's name?"

Dark is actually his name? She would not judge then. It was strange but judging people on their name alone would be a bit rude. And he hasn't been rude so far...just cocky.

"Sort of. It's just a common name for girls. I'm sure there are guys out there with the name Haruhi as well though it's probably rare." She smiles. "No rareness to me though, I guess."

He peers a little closer. She is fairly pretty for a boy. He smells a trap. Would Hiwatari dress up as a girl dressing up as a guy? No, that's a little weird even for the young police commander.

"But you're wearing a boy's uniform," he points out, half in question.

"That I am." Haruhi straightens out the the suit jacket of the uniform. "It's a long story but basically I broke a vase and now I'm paying off a debt." She says with ease. She didn't particularly mind the uniform except when she was sleeping. It was exactly the best form of pajamas.

"By crossdressing?" He gives her a more considering look. At least girls dressed as boys is kind of cute. Daisuke's classmates in dresses for a play was just painfully absurd. His general atmosphere of disdain lightens a fair bit.

"That's no way to treat a lady."

"Oh, well, they thought I was a guy from the start. So I had to work as a Host. It was only until later they found out. Well, actually, most of them figured it out while one of them was a little slow on the uptake." She chuckles lightly at Tamaki's reaction. Hilarious.

"I hope this doesn't change the way you feel about me overall, Dark-senpai."

It definitely changes a few things, but he'll try to make that less obvious.

"That you're kind of clumsy and you won't stick up for yourself? I barely know you, Miss Haruhi. I'm sure the way I feel about you will change at least a little, given time." Now the smile he shoots her is more charming than derisive.

"I swear I'm not clumsy. I was just bullied into a vase by a bunch of rich over the top cute guys." She says, exasperated. "Besides, it was my first day there. I was a bit nervous. I started off as an errand boy anyways but the moment they took my glasses off they decided that I would be a host." Her life really is just a series of weird events, wasn't it? Is she cursed?

She returns his smile with a charming smile of her own. "That's a relief. I look forward to getting to know you better as well. Hopefully we won't be trapped here forever though. I do want to read about the oh so mysterious Phantom Thief Dark."

He doesn't really follow the explanation, though he stores it away to figure out later. 'Host' kind of sounds like a euphemism for 'prostitute', but she's a little young for that sort of thing.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you behind. We'll have plenty of time to get acquainted." He was planning to make a solo escape, but he can't just leave a pretty girl by her lonesome in this place. Besides, if they're in a magical realm like he thinks, a human might not last here very long.

"Hm?" Really now?

"That's strange. I was sure you were ready to leave me behind. What with you saying my escape and how you wouldn't tell me your plan." But maybe she is mistaken. But she doubts that she is.

"Besides, escape really seems borderline minimum. I've checked. Just plants on top of plants on top of plants..."

“I wouldn’t be much of a thief if I couldn’t steal a prisoner or two.”

She is not mistaken. Dark doesn’t stumble in making excuses, at least.

“I have certain useful skills that you don’t.”

"Riiiight." This guy...

Haruhi raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Oh yeah? And what are this useful skills?" She asks. 70% curious, 30% ready to laugh at whatever his reply was.

He sighs regretfully.

“Aside from the skills needed by a master thief? Nothing I can show you just now.” Humans tend not to believe in magic without proof, and he doesn’t intend to make himself look stupid by telling her he has it.

Haruhi shrugs smugly. "Oh, I see how it is." She says, teasingly. "You're all bark and no bite. That's okay. I won't judge you, of course. But you really don't need to lie about those sorts of things to try and impress people. Just be yourself, Dark-senpai." Her voice dips from sarcasm to serious nearing the last part.

He moves quite suddenly into her personal space to lift her chin with a finger, his face inches from where hers would be if she didn’t pull away first.

“If you want me to bite all you have to do is ask...”

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I am so sorry for him