livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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test drive meme

⇨ 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:

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. More roles that currently need filling are listed here!

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Mirror Maze.]

[Carnivals were more fun when you were with friends, but unfortunately Honey had left her friends behind to come to this place. And so with a faint whim of giving herself time to think she wandered into the maze of mirrors and at first it was all amusing. Her tall slender figure warped and twisted into different shapes and sizes, short and fat, even thinner and more stretched out like taffy. Wobbly and even one with an hour glass figure!

But the deeper she went into the mazes the less she smiled, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. Being teased by those smiling faces. A nervous laugh slipped from her lips as she started moving faster keeping a hand against the mirrors hoping to use that method to find her way out eventually. However even her nervous laugh got twisted into mocking laughter by the mirrors.]

Let's be real, you should take one of these mirrors back to your room so you can have some curves for a change!

[Honey let out a yelp startled by the reflection teasing her and it was enough to make her stumble into another mirror which cackled.]

And you've had a creative block for weeks to boot so now you can't rely on your brains OR your looks Funny Honey!

[Honey took a breath and tried to compartmentalize her insecurities so she could sort this out planting a hand on the mirror again and starting her return trip.]

It's not real, they're just reflections. They can't hurt me.

[She was muttering to herself forcing a smile as she continued on trying to drown out the voices.]
_________________________________________________________

[A tailors work is never done]

[While making clothes had mostly been a hobby for her, Honey was good with a needle and thread and so offered to help with the costumes for the shows while she was here. What she didn't realize however was that some of the performers weren't...well entirely human.

This was surprising, fascinating and grounds for all sorts of new and fun designs blending the color of their skin or fur or...whatever with the fabrics, trying to find ways to make their expressions pop even from a distance. The makeup would help of course but the outfit would help draw in the eyes of the audience and keep them focused!

Hearing you lingering outside her "lab" she calls to you while fluttering about stitching as fast as her long dexterous fingers can.]

Come in come in! It's ok I'm just finishing up this patch, how can I help you?

[ She's not the only person in the maze. Strange had been in a dead end of the maze, trying to see if there was any way he could further figure out the specific enchantments used on the mirror. It's only when he hears Honey's startled yelp that he's jolted out of his work.

Ah. So she's discovered the...'perks' of the maze. Well, he can help a little, at least. And it's not like his attempts to figure this out were getting him anywhere. Strange walks towards Honey with the confidence of someone who's been in the mirror maze before. He starts talking before he comes into eyesight—after all, he didn't want to scare this poor girl. She seemed jumpy enough as is. ]

These mirrors are enchanted, [ he explains as if it's obvious, rapping his knuckles on one of the mirrors. By this point, he's reached Honey and given her a small smile. He's a little bit worrying at first glance: he certainly looks out of place, with his wild hair and his early 1800s attire. But his tone of voice certainly seems genuine enough. ] I can show you the way out, if you wish.

[A voice that is so unlike her own is enough to snap her out of her depression spiral and she blinks away a couple tears taking off her glasses to clean them hoping to see more clearly.]

O-oh...of course I should have known.

[Well now she's embarrassed but her smile is more genuine now as she tries to prevent herself from silently judging his fashion sense. His clothes are a stark contrast to her own bright colored jacket and dress. Modern and cheerful.]

It's nice to know I'm not going crazy. Yes I think I would appreciate some help.

Oh, you shouldn't worry about that. I've had personal experience with going mad—it's the hallucinations you have to worry about, not hearing voices.

[ It's just said very matter of fact and with that small smile still on his face that's totally not reassuring in the slightest! Sorry Honey! Strange hasn't yet connected the dots that normal people might not want to hear about that time he purposefully made himself a bit crazy. ]

If you'll follow me, the exit is this way, [ said as he gestures for Honey to follow him down a corridor of the maze. ]

But...isn't hearing voices that aren't there also considered hallucinations?

[It's probably not wise to correct your savior but she's following all the same.]

Thank you so much, I thought this would be a nice distraction but...well I suppose I still haven't adjusted to the way magic works yet.

It depends on the hallucinations! After all, one can't hear pineapples.

[ As the corridor splits, Strange takes one turn. However, he does linger a bit to make certain that Honey's following him before he keeps moving. ]

And, in fairness to you, they don't advertise it as a magic mirror maze that enjoys taunting you. It would scare off the customers that way.

Well I suppose you've got a point there.

[Looking for logic in madness is probably more out of optimism and being polite then anything. She follows close behind, taking strides with her long legs hoping not to lose sight of him in the shifting landscape.]

You'd think they'd be more interested in earning repeat business with more pleasant attractions. But perhaps I don't yet fully understand the purpose of this carnival.

[ He's walking at a fairly average pace. The main problem here is that occasionally Strange gets distracted by his own reflection, turning to look at himself in the mirror before carrying onwards, walking like he's entirely sure where he's going. ]

You know, I have no idea if repeat business is a thing here to begin with! I've only been here for two stops—one of them was a repeat, one of them was a new stop. It's certainly something for us to ask her at some point.

[ Honey wondered for a moment if perhaps she had put her faith in the wrong potentially crazy person, but that thought was quickly shuffled aside. Honey wanted to believe the best in people and that included most strangers.]

Yes that might be a good idea...how much do we know about our Ringmaster? Err...Mistress? Leader?

Well she's fae, that's a given. Under the terms of the carnival, all those who have joined up, like myself, are considered under her authority. She has enough power to move the carnival from location to location, enough skill to turn troublemakers into small animals, and enough flightiness to try and skip out on democratic meetings.

[ that last bit is said in a slightly joking tone, though Strange's words are 100% serious. ]

Wow...

[Because really what more can she say to someone so powerful, there is a slight giggle at the last part.]

It's nice to know that people with a lot of magical power can be just as flighty as people with a lot of scientific knowledge. Organization and protocol is a necessary evil after all even if some people try to ignore it.

[She's looking at you Fred.]

Honey Lemon // Big Hero 6

mirrors!

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TAILORS WORK

Re: TAILORS WORK

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[A tailor's work is never done]

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