livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #3

Entry tags:

test drive meme

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #3

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 read the full premise here.
Reserves and Applications are both currently OPEN.
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 and the players agree to it.
If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Treasurer, Wardrobe Manager, and Acquisitioner are currently open.

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. Visitors to the carnival comes from many different worlds today, as the ringmaster casts out her recruitment lures. 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 (pictured above) 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.

► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE: Sometimes, even magical ferris wheels get stuck. The carnival's particular wheel is enchanted to create a particular out of this world experience - as you pass along the top, you feel as if they are so close to the sky that you can interact with the stars like baubles hanging above your head. Of course, the novelty probably wears off when the wheel is broken and you've been stuck enjoying the light show with some stranger for the last half hour. How are you going to pass the time?

► 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.

► WILL O' WISPS: The ringmaster's will o' wisps have gotten free, and she's asked that everyone keep and eye out and help her reclaim them regardless of their official jobs. Wisps are small creatures that burn both hot and cold and comes in a few different variations of the same basic theme. Handling them physically (or psionically, or magically, for that matter) is difficult due to their near intangible nature. Touching and being around them can result in confusion and a sensation similar to being comfortably drunk.

► 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!

► RIDDLE GAME: For a bit of fun, the ringmaster has left a variety of locked chests around the worker areas of the carnival, each with instructions and a riddle written on their lids. The chest will accept three guesses from each worker before refusing to respond to them any further. If you guess the right answer, the chest will open and you will be rewarded with some manner of fun magical knick knack. If you've run out of guesses, maybe you can conspire with someone else and promise to split the prize?

► CAPTURE THE... EGG?: The Ringmaster likes to keep things exciting for her employees, and this time she's devices a game that mixes an Easter egg hunt with capture the flag. She's hidden various metallic "eggs" around the carnival that chime like bells when people get near, and divided participants into three teams (red, blue, yellow of course.) The carnival has been divided into three zones, and the objective is to gather as many eggs as possible for your team (three points for gold, two for silver, one for copper.) However, when you are in a zone that doesn't belong to your team, if they can snatch off your team flag they can take you to "jail" and confiscate any eggs you may be holding for their team. When in doubt, bullshit the rules! This is a prompt, after all.

► 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!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

a. gamers circle

Okay, but do they have any games that don't suck? Or any prizes that aren't your generic hideous stuffed animal? Because as Sollux walks through the carnival's game booths that's all he see's. He's got a soda in hand, one he probably swiped on the way in, as he considers the games all around him. As he sees the dart one his lips pull back into a wicked grin.

"So, anything goes as long as I pop the balloons right?"

b. trying to leaf

"What the hell?!" he exclaims to know one as he emerges from the forest to see the carnival in front of him once more.

"Is there no way to leave this stupid place?"

a. gate entry

[ he's been fumbling around in his pockets for the last few minutes or so. He isn't entirely sure if there's a line behind him, but if there is, he feels bad. the money in his pocket apparently isn't good enough and -- and how did he get here again, exactly? something about the woods, and before that a very pleasant sleep. he's a bit lost in his thoughts when the attendant reaches out to snag the picture in his wallet. and thats one (1) photo of a poodle. ]

Isn't he precious? I took that the day I brought him home. He's a big camera hog. [ sounding like a gushing mother naturally, not realizing that the picture is probably going to be his entrance fee-- ]

b. leafy business

Didn't I just come this way? Hmmmmm, maybe there's two carnivals next to each other.

[ while he appears a bit confused, standing akimbo on the edge of the forest staring down the carnival, he doesn't look worried. yet.... ]

Edited 2017-01-09 02:33 (UTC)

[For Yuuri it had already been a month and the fae magic had already started to change him. Two small horns had grown from just above his ears, the new additions to his features having grown straight back before a slight curve formed at the end of them. They itched and sometimes he forget they were there which got a bit awkward when he was trying to get dressed but..at least he had been warned? So that had helped.

A little bit.

He was rubbing at one of said horns as he made his way towards the main tents, passing by the entrance to the Carnival as he went in an attempt to make up for lost time since he'd had gotten a bit of a late start. A late start which was going to become an even later one as a familiar voice and a flash of silver caught his attention, causing Yuuri's steps to slow as he turned--]

Victor!

[Surprise is clear in his voice as his eyes go wide and he comes to a quick stop, staring at the familiar face before his bag hits the ground as he darts over, ignoring the fact that there was a line of people to practically slam into the other young man.]

a. mirror maze

It's more than a little surreal to be walking in a house of mirrors, surrounded by his own image; Phichit isn't unfamiliar with his face, given the number of selfies he takes in a day, but his body is a different story. In a room like this he can see every angle of his body. He finds himself checking his butt out a little, because yeah, he's curious and a little bit vain.

...Did his reflection just spank himself? No, no, that definitely didn't happen.

But... maybe it's time to keep moving.

b. not your wheelhouse

Phichit hasn't paid much mind to whoever the other person in the carriage of the ferris wheel with him was; he did wave and greet the fellow kindly, but when there was no response, he didn't push it. And it was easy not to push, because there was so much going on around them; as they ascended Phichit could see the lights and colors of the attractions below them, illuminating the late twilight sky. And then the twilight sky itself was the main attraction; lilac that faded into midnight blue, a gorgeous gradient that made the stars stand out.

Unable to help himself, Phichit fondly reached a hand out; they were so high up it felt like he could pluck a star right out of the sky. And he did. He gasped in awe as the warm bundle of light dimmed and brightened in his cupped palms, remembering a childhood of catching fireflies, and like the fireflies, the star seemed to want back out. He opened his palms, and the star danced around him, before floating over to his partner.

[Check out the house of mirrors, Yuuri! It'll be fun!

Aha. Hah. No. No it wasn't fun.

The break he should have been using to relax before his next performance was now being wasted on him trying to find his way out of the mirror maze. He was trying his best not to look at his reflection, the sight of himself with horns coming out of his head still an odd one but considering some of the other people he'd seen it wasn't all that bad?

Still.

He ducked around a corner, relieved to find it was actually a proper pathway and not just more mirrors only to slam right into someone else. The young man stumbled back before regaining his bearings, an apologetic look on his face.]

I'm so sor--Phichit?!

Well, this is some kind of backwater planet he's washed up on, isn't it? IV can't remember hearing of such a large traveling carnival as this one, but if it's anything at all like the Circuit he's sure it's full of criminals and general no-good nobodies who wouldn't be able to make a living doing any decent business.

And as it stands, he has much higher priorities than messing around in silly circus.

He walks up to the admissions booth, completely ignoring any line that has formed there, and slams his hands on the counter.

"Excuse me, but I need directions to the nearest port of any kind. I need to leave this planet immediately."

The clerk tells him he needs to get back in line, which seems to agitate him. He raises his voice. "Listen, I don't have time for this. I am a prince of the Robot Kingdom, and you will-"

The clerk informs him that they really don't care what he's prince of, but he needs to get in line. Frustrated, IV takes a step back, pointing his arm at the booth, only now it is morphing and changing to be cylindrical, like a large gun.

"Now, tell me where I have to go to leave!"

And just like that, some kind of skeleton man has appeared behind him, tapping on his shoulder with a claw. His tail flicks back and form in mild agitation, his left eye glowing a bright blue that illuminates his otherwise empty socket oddly.

"Got a complaint, pal?" he asks, casually, as if the guy isn't pointing a gun at the pay booth. "Why don't you take it over here."

a)

[The first thing he notices is that his "friends" are no longer following him. Maybe he lost them, but he's sure he'd have heard them, felt them, as he ran blindly through the forest and instead they're just...gone.

That doesn't mean he isn't eager to get inside, though. Maybe he can lose the angry spirits in a crowd of this size, or at least slow them down. He's left struggling to come up with an admission fee while looking over his shoulder every minute or so.]

I've got a Tarot deck...old top hat, gator-tooth necklace...some smoke powder... Listen, friend, what do you say you let me duck in here a little while, and we'll settle up later? I ain't exactly kitted out tonight, but I've got some enchantments you'll be very interested in once I resupply.

b)
[A house of mirrors seems like a fair place to spot anyone coming up behind him. At least, that was the idea. Now he's hopelessly lost in something any two-bit tourist should be able to navigate.

And his mind is starting to play tricks on him. Sometimes his reflection seems to be lit by that unearthly green, other-side light. Sometimes his shadow isn't alive anymore. Or it is, but it's reaching out to grab him. Or he doesn't have one at all.

This has not been his day.]

c)
[Ok, Facilier has read this book before. He's written it before. These games are probably rigged ten ways to Sunday.

Still, he's parked himself near one of the dart games and is looking over the more supernatural prizes. One of these little trinkets is bound to make up for the amulet he lost, right?

It's borrowing Peter to pay Paul, but desperate times...]

'Scuse me, my friend, how much for a turn?

d)
[Wildcard!]

Well, this is getting them somewhere, at least. He doesn't morph his hand back, but does turn around to face the skeleton man (hardly the weirdest thing he's seen across the cosmos).

"Yes, actually, I do have a complaint." The television screen that serves as his face fizzles with static a moment before going black again. "That is, I need to get off this planet immediately."

"That'd be easier if you were on a planet, bucko," he comments idly, ignoring the gun for the time being. If he has any sense, he won't start a fight in the first place, and Sans would rather not exert the effort.

"Instead of grinding your gears about it," (hee hee) "why don't you put away that gun arm of yours and talk this out politely?"

[People have been being rowdy at the gates today, so Sans has set his lawn chair up near the entrance, leaning back with his shades on as people go about their business. None of his dogs have picked up on anything out of sorts elsewhere, so for now he's happy to take the break. He's even getting close to drifting off in the sunlight, when...

Huh. Now, here is a conflict of interest.]

Better make sure you've got the goods, then, pal. Enchantments here are a dime a dozen.

[Says the literal skeleton who might have just looked like a joke replica propped up in a lawn chair until he started talking.]

Was that a fucking pun? IV does everything he can not to groan out loud.

After a moment's consideration, his hand does morph back into a normal hand. It's not like he can't change it back at any moment, after all.

"As much as I would like to talk about this civilly, the fact is that I have neither the time nor the conversation partner. Now, I don't care if this is a planet or a moon or a fucking space station, all I know is that it is not where I need to be. So how do I get there?"

"Trust me, while you're here, you got all the time in the world."

He gestures broadly to the carnival as a whole.

"There's a lot to be said for wasting time, in my experience. Nothing's gunna happen in your world while you visit, that's our guarantee - so you might as well not worry about it."

[Mirror Maze]

[After everything, it seems fitting that the next thing she knows is the lights and sounds of a carnival. It was the only place that she'd found comfort-- and even after everything that she'd found out after the fact, it's still true. So when she's greeted by organ grinders and flashing electric lights instead of angels with harps and chorus, it's not a disappointment. It's just the next thing.]

[Doll wanders around the grounds, looking for something-- someone, really. Several of them. They had to be there, after all, there's no reason they wouldn't unless... unless Smile had lied to her.]

[Panic gripped her for a moment and she turned suddenly into one of the attractions-- a Mirror Maze. Best to comb the entire carnival until she found them, after all, no stone unturned, all that. So she wanders through, looking at her own reflection nervously. Sometimes a flash of orange sends her running smack into one of the walls, or she turns around happily to find the glimpse of a large man standing behind her was her eyes playing tricks on her. The glimpses start to become less of a figment of her imagination the longer she walks with her hands against the walls. Coming in here was a mistake, something is very wrong, the mirrors aren't just mirrors.]

[And that thought is made certain when she turns a corner and her reflection is still her-- but in her performance costume. The reflection smiles, cold.]

If you're in heaven, where's your other eye, precious Dolly?

[She buries her eyes in her elbow, and starts feeling along the walls again with one hand. What she can't see won't hurt her, can it? This isn't right, this isn't where she should be--]

Help!! Help, somebody get me out!

[Trying to Leaf]

[Where is she? What had that devil and his master done to her?]

[Doll tears away from the carnival at full-tilt, into the woods just beyond some of the tents. Anything to be away from that empty shell of what was supposed to be a comfort at the end. She follows a path that leads further back, running to put distance between herself at the carnival, only to come back on it minutes later. The path must have looped back--]

[She goes back the way she came, going off the path a few minutes in and through the trees. It's dark and she's almost tripped several times, but she's determined. Until she hears the music again.]

[No-- how? She's not giving up yet though, even if it's dark and the woods are strange, she's going to leave. She has to leave. No part of this is right with her.]

[On her sixth try, she's out of breath and leaning against a tree while taking in the lights and music beckoning her back.]

He's damned me. [Doll sits down hard on the ground. He was her friend, and he killed her family and sent her to hell. Why?]

[Now that is interesting. Seems too real to be some kind of puppet. He's a fan of skulls himself, and Baron Samedi would be proud, but this doesn't feel quite like that loa's work.]

Oh you will not be disappointed, my good...man.

[Only a second's hesitation there.]

I've got voodoo, I've got hoodoo, I've - well, I won't spoil it for you. But now you've gone and piqued my interest. You don't look like a stranger to magic, yourself.

Heh. Sometimes looks aren't so deceiving, huh? [He tips down his sunglasses, revealing dots of light within empty sockets.] I'm Sans the Skeleton. Before you ask, that's skeleton, bone and raised. Not the undead type.

[It's worth the clarification to someone who claims to do voodoo.]

[A genuine chuckle. Both at the pun and the specification. Funnybone here clearly knows what's up.]

Doctor Facilier, at your service. Was always more a charms and potions man than a zombie fan, myself.

I tell you what, Sans the Skeleton. You got any acquaintance with Tarot? 'Cause I could give your future a quick read, in exchange for lettin' me poke around inside.

[As a preview, he produces an ordinary-looking deck - but when he flips up the top card, that's clearly Sans, taking the place of The Magician.]

[Well, that's something, now innit? Sans's brow raises in apparent surprise, his tail flicking back and forth in interest. He's curious what kind of spell exactly he used to do that, and is even more curious what his tarot reading are actually capable of.

Aw, hell. Why not. It feels unnecessarily masochistic, but he wants to see this for himself.]

Sound good to you? [He glances at the sprite in the admission booth, who shrugs and nods. It's a favour to the carnival, and that should suffice. If the Ringmaster has a problem, they can fight about it.]

Alright. [He leans back a bit, ready to take it in.] Lay it on me.

[If he isn't tired as Cinderella after her stepfamily has come back boozed up and rowdy.]

[Not that he's anywhere near pretty enough as a fairy tale princess, he muses, and he stretches his good arm out in front of him with the fingers spread out. Not flesh, not anymore, but wood, gnarled like it grew right out of him instead of smoothly polished like a normal prosthetic. Well, that's true anyway.]

[Can wood even feel tired? Joker is pretty sure it can, because he's exhausted with everything he's had to deal with lately. Taking on Wardrobe Manager duties along his usual Stage ones, some of his performers going missing after that mess in the Matrix, the attack, the Ringmaster calling all of the supervisors, learning magic... For just a little while, he needs to relax away from the carnival, which is why he's tucked himself away in the tree branches just outside of the carnival. Close enough to rush back in if there's an emergency, but still not where most will bother to go.]

[Far down below on the forest floor, he hears the sound of someone running, and sighs. There's always at least one person who tries this, at just about every stop. Well, they'll learn eventually. Or maybe they won't, that's happened too. Either way, he guesses he should play the role of a responsible adult, shouldn't he? Rolling his neck, he adjusts himself away from the trunk and starts to balance himself on the branch he's been sprawled across-]

[A voice wafts up, tugging against every single bit of him.]

[Joker freezes, and feels even his very heart stop.]

Doll?

[Out of his mouth before he can stop himself, voice a little strangled from surprise and half a dozen other emotions he doesn't think he could name in the moment.]

{Facilier shuffles the cards with a showman's flair, impossibly high, low, and all around him before they land in his hand fanned out for Sans to consider.]

Pick three, Funnybone.

[Sans is actually sort of impressed by that - it's not that he doesn't think there's a monster out there that could do the same, but showmanship is showmanship. He taps his teeth with a claw, and then picks three cards without much consideration. This is meant for fate to decide, right?]

Bring it, pal.

[Running around the carnival hell-bent on finding one of her family has put them right in the front of her mind, so Doll can't miss the voice that comes down out of the tree branches. She stands up and whirls around, looking for him, leaning back and forth in case he's hiding behind a tree-- and eventually she looks up. It had come from above her.]

[God she's relieved to see him. Her face crumples and tears start streaming down her face.] Joker!

[Even if this is another trick, she doesn't care if she ends up looking like a fool. If that's actually Joker, she's going to him. Doll scans the tree trunk briefly and takes a running leap up it-- she's going to climb if he doesn't come down to her.]

[ How about a round of shadow man vs shadow man, Facilier? Because he definitely isn't alone in that maze. The problem is, there's no other reflections to even give away who it is that's watching him. They can't exactly reflect what they can't see, right?

Childermass isn't strictly invisible at the moment, instead having taken a roundabout way to avoid getting caught. He knows all the shadowy places in the maze to lurk, just out of sight, but still able to watch this or that corridor. Gathering the shadows close around himself helps, a spell easiest to maintain when stationary and already somewhere that leans towards dark.

He's been watching this particular visitor and his interesting reflections for a little while now, but eventually he'll say something, when he's decided the man must be lost by now. ]

Having trouble finding the exit?

[ His is a gravelly Yorkshire drawl from... somewhere. Where, exactly, isn't apparent from the get go. Enough searching and staring at the darkest spaces between mirrors should reveal who's there, though, especially if the person in question is familiar with magic. ]

What in the worlds is all that supposed to mean? Has he fallen into some kind of time suspension? That would really be just his luck.

"Fine. I'll play this game for awhile. As long as I'm here..."

His screen changes to display the picture of a man.

"I might as well check. Have you seen anyone resembling this person? He might be trying to disguise himself, and is probably with a young woman."

"Uh..." Sans blinks at the image, sort of surprised that the robot has calmed down so quickly. Guess he knows enough about timespace to get what he's saying. He considers it for a moment. "Can't say I have. Plenty of people with horns around, but not quite like that."

He considers for another moment.

"Whatcha need him for?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 5

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #3

no subject

no subject

/SLAMS INTO A

no subject

A!

Prince Robot IV | Saga

no subject

Dr. Facilier | The Princess and the Frog

no subject

no subject

A

no subject

no subject

Doll // Black Butler

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

YELLS (trying to leaf)

i've got something that's half sans' application and half facade.com if that's cool with you

abso-fuckin-lutely, my friend!

ohai nii-san 83

b

no subject

no subject