Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ringleaders) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
livinglot2017-02-03 01:17 pm
ringleaders) wrote in livinglot2017-02-03 01:17 pm
Entry tags:
⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #4
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:
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! |
Castiel | Supernatural | Supervisor - Acquisitioner
[He moves easily among them, not bothered by anyone as he watches the swirling lights of the carnival with the open pleasure of a person untroubled by long or complex thoughts. Or driven mad by such. He's not much to look at in his shabby trench and cheap suit beneath it. There isn't anyone in particular he seems to be looking for until something few others can see tugs at the tail of his coat.]
Oh. Yes.
[How long had Castiel been gone? Damn if he knows. Time had turned into a tricky thing that he didn't bother to keep track of much. Sure, the Ringmaster would probably be miffed at him, but these things happened, and he would deal with it. Whatever the invisible thing is at his side, there's no fear in Castiel's face as he slips the ragged backpack off his shoulder and offers it to the creature.]
It wasn't where she said. Something else had found and taken what she wanted. It might come looking for it later. Losing that made it very upset. Even a candybar didn't make it happy.
[He nods to empty air, the backpack vanishing in a swirl of shadows along with the invisible messenger. That leaves him free to enjoy the carnival once again, of being home. Now all he has to do is remember which trailer he lives in. Oh well. He has all night for that. He passes by a popcorn vendor and a box of the sweet kettle corn is in his hands. Paying for it doesn't occur to him anymore than simply taking it did. He wanted it, so he had it.]
[He stops near the games, looking left and then right. This looks a little more familiar. His trailer had to be around here somewhere. After opening a few doors to see if it is, he wanders down the avenue of games to look for someone he knows... or far more likely, might know him. Memory isn't exactly one of Castiel's big points. Or so he says.]
[Location: The Big Top]
[A carnival where the inhabitants were, in some ways, prisoners of their own contracts may not have been where one expected to find an angel, but for Castiel, it is perfect. No demon, angel or Leviathan intent on tearing him apart would dare venture into a place where another being controlled all aspects of reality. There's the added bonus of him being able to go where others could not, to pick up forgotten items or things that the carnival needed. Few places were beyond Castiel's bounds when the order comes down that something is needed.]
[And on the flipside of matters, in his pacifist state, there are few conflicts he can run into. Being outcast, no one much is looking for him either except perhaps a pair of brother hunters. But even the Winchesters or Crowley showing themselves here is next to impossible. He doesn't spare many thoughts for Michael, Gabriel or Lucifer. His older brothers wouldn't bother themselves.]
[That's part of the reason that Castiel is comfortable and starry-eyed at the performances going on under the Big Top. This is home. He claps and laughs along with the rest of the audience as if he were some rube instead of one of the staff. It might help one of the others later for all Castiel knows. It isn't until someone calls him 'Jimmy' that he even thinks about it. Jimmy is a set of clothes he's worn for so long that he doesn't think about it. Jimmy himself fell silent and died as far as Castiel knows back when he holy Molotov cocktailed Michael and God brought him back after Lucifer killed him.]
That was wonderful. Did you see?
[Outside the Mirror Maze : Miscellaneous Right]
[The mirror maze is one of the places that Castiel avoids on general purpose. With the madness infecting his mind, truth from lie is hard enough to distinguish. Throwing in the added evil double bit isn't something he relishes. Today, he waits outside. More than a few stumble out upset or angry at what awaits them inside. His job is a simple one to comfort and reassure those who venture in that all they saw was inside their own mind.]
[Those wanting to stay or sign a contract? Well, that's another story and not for an angel to do. More than a few wait in the wings (pun intended) to scoop them up.]
Would you like a peanut? [Gently enough he asks, offering the bag of salted or honey roaster, whatever they desire, to anyone willing to listen to him.] Are you all right?
An Acquisitioner Returns Home
He doesn't remember exactly when the angel left the carnival either, but it was probably before he became Warden. A lot of people left, several months back. It was hard to keep count.]
Hey.
[He calls after Castiel, real casual, his claws tucked into his pockets. No matter how much extra fae he's gotten into him, he's still a skeleton, and that's more notable than his tail or his feet.]
You remember this place?
no subject
[He tries for a smile and is mostly successful, as if he were remembering how something is done instead of it coming naturally.]
I remember, yes. There's little I forget. I met a cat out there that told me about how they prefer salmon to tuna. Keep that in mind if you need to get on the good side of one. Other than that, they will be plotting everyone's downfall before the songbirds can warn humanity.
[His voice is gravely and monotone, a slow blink before his smile becomes more true. Perhaps he remembers Sans clearer or maybe he's just considering if marshmallow would be better with peanut butter or mint ice cream.] What have I missed?
MIRROR MAZE if only bc this dog-thing has some heavy Jimmy CR ffff
He doesn't often come into the mirror maze-it's not a very pleasant place, as far as he's concerned, but his own trailer mate seemed interested in doing something here again, and....
...Well nothing ever went well when they decided to Try Things, so here he was. And here he is.
Squinting. Sniffing. You...don't smell quite the same, um-] ...Auh- [He startles, shaking his head.] N- No, it's quite fine..!
...You simply look...extremely familiar... [
In the face, at the very leastGongenzaka coughs.] Forgive me, I should not be staring...
Bring me alllll the CR. Poor Jimmy with Cas around.
[Another honey roasted peanut is crunched as he watches this man. Any social norms being violated is beyond him. Cas has a habit of booping people on the nose when he's trying to make a point or making them play board games. Castiel's scent might have been an odd one. Isn't as if things like him are often walking the Earth, at least not in his world. Jimmy's is probably long gone since Jimmy had ascended to Heaven back when Lucifer had blown Castiel's vessel apart. Never firebomb the Devil's big brother.]
Do I? Why is that? I don't think I look like many people unless you mean Emmanuel Allen, and that's still me. I just wasn't me. Got lost for awhile. [But it's the sniffing that comes back to Cas.] I met a tribe that believed natural honey is good for a cold. You sound as if you have one. Who did you think I was?
AW YESSS
Gongenzaka immediately shakes his head at 'Emmanuel'-certainly not, that is...certainly not it. And as for honey-] AUH- No, that is fine. [There is an awkward flick of the ears, as he turns his gaze.] ...That is...an unfortunate habit of mine, I apologize. [For sniffing. Very sorry. Dog thing.]
Ah...you look considerably like Jimmy, I must say...he is one of the cooks here, he arrived some number of weeks ago.
no subject
[He cuts himself off there. Places and times grew cloudy after a few years or seconds depending on what thoughts Castiel had on his mind at the time. Questions linger that he could ask of this man but none of them are really important yet. Castiel liked to get to know people before picked them for the Twister Tourney or for a midnight acquisition. He might be considering if he can change his scent to provide more entertainment for this poor sniffly fellow.]
[The name stops him, Castiel looking off to the side and back in the habit of someone who isn't sure they like the subject.]
There are many Jimmys in the world, and I might look like some of them in this body, but I doubt I do outside it. I'm taller. [As in Chrysler Building tall.] The only Jimmy I know I look like is Jimmy Novak, my vessel.
[It may be abrupt to a human, but Cas finally gives him a game smile.] I am Castiel.
it occurs to me that my longest running vet here has a freaking demon on her and now i'm Excited-
...He's afraid to ask, honestly. He manages to keep himself from doing so, if only to squint over the meaning of his next words.] Your...
[He very abruptly takes a very stern expression that possibly explains why he was given a Patrol role, despite all the mental points to his actual age. He may look older than 14, but he is, at the end of the day, 14 after all.
And he is also one who cares a Lot about the ones close to him.] ...When you say 'vessel' then, under what circumstances..?
...What are you?
[He's Japanese, Cas-they aren't quite so canny on 'iel -> angel' as you can guess.]
I should be able to get my app in tonight
[The change in Gongenzaka's stance and face isn't lost on the angel but it doesn't impact him much either. He doesn't even get that the human is trying to be stern. To an angel, that looks a lot like constipation or trying to remember if he left the stove on.]
Vessel. The physical body I or any angel or demon uses while on Earth. [Explanations with Castiel tend to be blunt and delivered in the usual monotone as if this should be known already or unexceptional information.] Jimmy Novak and his line are my true vessels. You knew of him before I needed him?
[The fact that none of that is comforting is lost on Cas, but he does add helpfully:] I'm an angel.
AWWW YESSS
Eventually, he manages to just answer the question he can answer at all.] ....I, the man Gongenzaka, would not know. I met him here; he is a friend of myself, and of Sherlock as well.
[...Angel is only somewhat comforting, but all the same.] ...Does he know you are here? [he finds himself asking. That, at the least, seems to be the most important matter.]
no subject
The Man Gongenzaka, [he repeats thoughtfully, eyes drawn back to him with a share of curiosity in them but not much more. In Heaven, names like 'Sam' and 'Dean' weren't exactly common. For all Cas knows, 'The Man Gongenzaka' is normal.] Jimmy Novak is here?
[Now even he's confused.] Jimmy Novak is here without my presence within him? Do I understand you right? [That shouldn't have happened. Ever. He was in Jimmy right now, although Jimmy's soul was in Heaven. He'd get the Sherlock bit after he figures this out.] Have his eyes ever turned black?
no subject
Th... 'I, the Man', is merely a translation of how I was taught to address myself, [Gongenzaka coughs awkwardly. It's....become an unfortunate fact of life, that Literally Everyone doesn't know this. He's become used to correcting people rather than biting their head off for it, thankfully. The other awkward bit is explaining that it's an excessively humble and archaic phrase....as opposed to the self-centered title it now sounds like. Erp.] My name is Gongenzaka Noboru.
[As it is. He nods.] Indeed he is! He has been here for some time, in fact! And-
[...............Uh.] ....They have not. Though, a few of the changes he has taken are...goat-like, perhaps? [...Does that help anything? It probably doesn't help anything.] ...The Ringmaster seems capable of travelling through numerous points in time...so it does not seem entirely unlikely that she could have brought us through a place accessible to him, if that would typically be impossible...
[He. He thinks?? He's trying not to put too much thought into it, lest all of the paradoxes scramble his brain.]
no subject
[Cas had begun a little confused and now really is. Jimmy being present as well as himself is an oddity given that he's still in Jimmy's body, but stranger has happened. The idea that Jimmy could be in danger or used isn't one that sits well with Cas. But he is a warrior and it wouldn't be the first time his vessel has come under threat.]
[But - the Ringmaster did draw him out of Purgatory. He will have to wait and see.] I will check on him then. [For Cas, it's that simple. He will check on Jimmy, determine if it's a demon or some other creature pretending. A to B is the shortest route and the one the angel takes.]
Who is this Sherlock?
no subject
[But as it is. The main concern is with Jimmy, for now, and Gongenzaka nods.] ...I, the man Gongenzaka, trust that you will handle such a meeting with delicacy. ...There is likely a reason he has not mentioned you in the past, after all...
[As for Sherlock.] Sherlock Holmes is the one with whom I share my trailer. He is an Englishman, and something of an obsessor of mystery.
...He gets bored quite easily. [Too Easily.]