⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

[ringleaders]

Who: EVERYONE!
When: NOW!
Where: Around the carnival grounds, and in the Cookhouse.
What: Carnival worker orientation, Ringmaster style.
Warnings: Alcohol consumption, maybe drugs. Other things?

BRAVE NEW WORLD↴ ► THE NEW: It doesn't matter when you entered the tent to discuss your new contract with the Ringmaster, you exit it beneath a blanket of stars. Pointedly alien stars at that - currently the carnival grounds are being treated to a show of shooting stars, and what appear to be unnaturally large and living green moons hanging just a bit too close. The carnival was bustling when you entered, but now it's in the latter stages of being shut down for the night. If you manage to find a clock, it states that it's around 8PM. Workers from during the day will be passing through the grounds, attending to various pieces of business. None of them will seem very surprised or concerned by the goings on, though some may be sympathetic enough to pause and answer your questions. If you put some effort into finding out how it became nighttime, you may discover that it's been anywhere from a few hours to 7 days since you originally signed your contract. Someone may explain to you that it was probably some kind of time bubble, meant to keep you out of the way until the Ringmaster had time to deal with you. Every few minutes another new person will pop out of the tent, looking just as confused and under the impression that they had only just finished discussing things with the Ringmaster. Weird. She passed you a note before you left. Opening it up, you'll see you've been assigned a trailer number, and been given the instructions to drop off any excess belongings and do what you can to get settled in. You have until exactly 9:36PM to do so, because that's when you'll be expected to attend what is listed only as "WORKER'S ORIENTATION". This is, perhaps, more abrupt than you were expecting - but what can you do? You're here for the long haul. ► THE OLD: If you've ever seen a mass recruitment before, then this is no surprise. People enter the tent when they're recruited, and then sometimes how up again days later when the Ringmaster is ready for them. She isn't a big fan of wasting her time on individual orientations when she's expecting a crowd. Maybe you're too jaded to all of this to care much, but you'll see the newbies wandering around, probably confused and maybe a bit lost. Maybe you're the kind whose is sympathetic enough to pause your role in clean up and give them some directions, and maybe a word of confidence. Maybe you'll just jeer at them, because you're some kind of asshole. Either way, you expect you'll have the chance to see them later tonight. Whether by world of mouth, radio, or written note, supervisors will be passing out the following message: all workers are to report to the Cookhouse at 9:36PM sharp for "orientation." If you are at all familiar with how things go around here, you probably have a good idea of what this implies. Mandatory Karaoke Night. MANDATORY KARAOKE NIGHT!!!↴ At 9:36PM, the main dining hall of the Cookhouse will be found heavily decorator with various coloured lights and at least one disco ball made of what is ostensibly high karat gems. There are a bunch of cushions and additional seating set up along with the usual tables, and at the head of the call there is a state set up - a karaoke stage. For veteran workers, this is no surprise. Karaoke nights are fairly frequent as activities go, even if they are not usually mandatory. Some of you probably have signature songs already prepared. The karaoke machine is set up with mostly karaoke tracks that would be popular in the 90's and 00's on the average modern earth, with a few that are more recent. It also has some other random stuff from other worlds that people rarely sing because they are confusing and in languages no one understands. Here is a big karaoke list for your inspiration! The more stereotypically karaoke the better. Beyond that, there is plenty of food and snacks that were prepared by the cooks earlier, as well as a bar set up for alcohol and other vices. The selection is, as most things in the carnival, eclectic. Music will be played in between if nobody is singing, and otherwise veterans are encouraged to bring along their own fun and show the newbies a good time. The Ringmaster does ask that vets attempt to be courteous to their new coworkers. It's just being a good host.

Comments

[starseedling]

"Well... I only even had a job for maybe two days, one time, but I think my orientation for that was just watching this really cool hip hop video about donuts."

He laughs and then shrugs helplessly.

"I think most people were expected that they'd show us how to do our jobs instead of just partying, but I don't mind at all."

[wild_magic]

"I think it's better if it's like this, than learning how to do jobs. Going to my first party sounds a lot more exciting than that."

[starseedling]

Steven bounces up onto his toes, putting his hands to the side of his face.

"This is your first party?" he asks in surprise, that fact apparently vicariously making this a lot more momentous to him.

[wild_magic]

He nods excitedly.

"Yeah! There's not lots of parties in the forest, so I've never been to one!"

[starseedling]

"You live in the forest??" Steven asks, apparently having no shortage of clarifying questions. He sounds enthusiastic about the idea. "Do you have... animal friends?"

[wild_magic]

That's more than okay, because Susan loves talking about himself.

"Well, I have one, but she's only kind of an animal. There are lots of animals though! But we have to eat them, so we can have meat."

[starseedling]

"Oh..." Steven says, his face falling a little. Like, he knows that meat comes from animals, and he eats meat all the time, but the reality of it always makes him feel sort of bad. Especially when he thinks of it in terms of hunting and killing animals himself.

"...Who is your sort of animal friend?" he asks, focusing on something less unfortunate.

[wild_magic]

Of course it's just normal life to Susan, so it doesn't occur to him that it might make someone uncomfortable until he's already said it and sees Steven's face fall. But at least there's other things to talk about, things which are more interesting.

"She's my familiar! So... She's kind of an animal, but not really, I don't really know exactly, but she can talk with me in my head and do things for me and also turn into other animals. She's pretty cool! Her name is Fluff."

[starseedling]

Well, apparently that's all Steven needs to get over it. His eyes brighten at the description, and especially at the name.

"Is she here? Can I see her? She sounds really cool!"

[wild_magic]

"She's here, but she's not here, she's sleeping in my bed. But, I can show you some other time!"