lostcarnival | ⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

Entry tags:

⇨ GAME START INTRO LOG!

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Crossing of the Threshold

[ The pact had been sealed when an alien sky spread over Yukine’s head, stopping cold for a moment as she looked up to marvel at the enormous possibilities above her. It was when she knew there would be no way back home for an entire year. A sense of smallness hit her when Hikarizaka was worlds away from anywhere she had ever known, and alone.

Yukine put her hands over her chest, looking around, realizing this was much different from what she had expected to see coming out… It continued to feel like a dream. And by the day and hours she realized had passed, she wasn’t even in her normal time!

In the time before Yukine is called for Worker’s Orientation, Yukine comes over to the people just coming out of the tent. ]

Are you from the carnival, as well? Everyone else seems to be leaving just now...

[ If you are a veteran, Yukine will take a moment to look at you in wonder, before making a deep bow. ]

Hello. I am Yukine Miyazawa. I work from now on in concessions. I’m looking forward to work with you. [ As she straightens, Yukine looks around at where the hour was marked. ] I probably lost track of time, but… I think it is much later. Did something happen?

Orfeo in Hades

[ Yukine knew more than her share of english. You had to know how to read these kinds of books, after all, which wasn’t something to laugh at when you were at a library. And yet this strange world allows her to listen as if it was as clear to listen as japanese. Fae language, she had overheard someplace…

Yukine Miyazawa!

The name snaps her out of her thoughts, instead smiling widely, climbing up the scenario, with the same tamed fear she channeled into a drive to act and sing, much as she learned in karaoke. She smiles widely, doing her best to hide her fear behind a smile the moment she was up on the stand, microphone in hand, lights over her.

All beings here, they were just friends she hadn’t met yet. ]

Hello, everyone! I am Yukine Miyazawa. I am from Hikarizaka, Japan, and, um... Earth. From 2004. [ It feels so frightening to have to mention her home planet, even her year. Deep inside, it made Yukine realize how far she was from home. ] I love cooking, spending time with friends, and karaoke. If I am coming to sing, however…

[ Yukine suddenly extends a hand to your character below her, as her way of taming her own fear, as misery loves company! ]

This person is coming, too!

Supernatural Aid

[By this point, Yukine had immersed herself in this strange world, and now happily sung her next round.

While her first song she did it with the fear she channeled into bravery to sing, this time she does it without fear, feeling as a part of the group, as part of a circle. In here, in this moment, this was fun! Managing to sound rather decently, Yukine immerses herself in the song. ]

He did the mash, he did the monster mash
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash
He did the mash, it caught on in a flash
He did the mash, he did the monster mash

[ As Yukine sings, she doesn’t notice when she slowly gains an inch of height, nor that her ears slowly peek out from her hair like that of a half-elf. ]

Edited 2016-10-16 02:45 (UTC)

M-Miyazawa-san!

[ Chiaki's surprised to see her fellow new recruit as she stumbles out of the tent. ] Were you waiting here? I was with the Ringmaster...

[ Her new ears twitch, taking in the sounds of the Carnival even as Chiaki's entirely focused on Yukine. ]

[ Yukine recognized that voice and face immediately, spotting the strange, feline ears on her. ] Chiaki-san? [ She was well! Yukine smiled as she held her hands. ]

Are you alright? I'm so happy they treated you. Do you need help with anything?

[ But... the moment she eyes the ears again, realizes Chiaki recovered enormously fast, and the fact she had just exited... Yukine's smile fades. ]

I... I'm sorry. I just left the tent. I don't understand.

But... I did too...

[ She looks back at the tent. ] I didn't see you in there, though...?

[ Yukine looks back at the tent, trying to see if there was something strange in it... then at the alien sky, remembering she was no longer in Hiarizaka. And for that matter, she was away from all accepted ideas on how the universe worked. ]

It's night, now. According to the clocks... [ Yukine pulled up her cellphone, which marked days of difference. ] ... It's almost a week.

Days? But... what?

[ How much could have happened in that time? What little hope she had of going back to find her friends and make sure they were okay, vanished. ]

[ Yukine looked down, with those same questions in mind. At this point, she wished Kotomi had been here to explain everything... ]

I was told... [ She looked at Chiaki, trying to think. ] that everyone comes from different universes. Even then...

... Is it more of what the ringmaster can do? Stop time?

I don't know... [ It's a lot. Her head sort of hurts. She puts her hand to it, rubbing, like it's a bad dream she can get out of her mind...

One hand touches her new ear and she jerks it back, startled by the sensation. ]

[ Yukine instead stares for a long time at Chiaki's ears, a part of herself not as surprised to see somebody else change in the short timeframe of having seen her. Everything of this world felt like a dream, and for all the fright she should have felt at that moment, Chiaki was safe... and she was no longer home.

Yukine stepped forward, looking at Chiaki's ears. ]

Those are lynx ears... they're not yours, are they? [ This is asked more as an inquire, knowing that for other beings in here, this was normal. By how she holds Chiaki's hand, she feels guilty that she wants to touch them. ]

... Are they real?

You're sure?... [ She wonders how Yukine knows. She tries to keep herself still under Yukine's touch, but she's still a little bit anxious. The ears flick unconsciously when Yukine gets near them. ]

Everything sounds louder, so... I think so.

[ It became evident when Chiaki admitted it was turning louder. Only thanks due to Chiaki keeping still, Yukine moves her hands closer to the lynx ears... rubbing them softly with her thumbs, touching them to realize they connected directly to her hair and her head, and caressing them, as if she was a kitten. ]

They're real... [ More than fear, it's awe what Yukine feels. This was sudden for the two of them, and when she realizes it was something the carnival made, both the time difference and the sudden ears over Chiaki... Yukine wonders if the same will happen to her. ]

Do you feel okay, Chiaki-san? [ Yukine begins to look worried, ] The same thing that happened to you... could happen to all of us.

Um... I think so. [ She still feels a little jumpy, for more reasons than one, and the ears are amplifying that. ] I'll be fine!... You don't have to worry, Miyazawa-san.

[ It was her duty to worry. After the harm Chiaki went through, and the happiness at seeing her well, came then the realization that it would continue like this... And for the first time after the boiling of the gang war in her hometown, she didn't know what could happen, nor how could she solve it.

She leaned forward, and kissed Chiaki on her forehead. ]

If you need any help, please tell me. Remember nobody has to be alone in here.

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waitingforplayer2 - 2016-10-28 05:14 (UTC) - Expand

[For the most part, Joker has been just enjoying his time in "workers' orientation" but trying to bother others to get up on stage or watching the trainwreck that karaoke night could be. Utterly relaxed with a plastic skeleton leaning on one side, he watches as the next new face goes onto the stage...]

[...Only to get an invitation himself.]

[For a second, Joker can only blink in befuddlement, and then he's bursting out laughing even as he carefully puts his plastic skeleton to the side and gets up to this feet. Well, this is a turn around.]

Are ya sure I'll do ya justice as a singin' partner, miss?

Everyone deserves a chance to sing. [ Yukine answers cheerfully, ] It will be as much justice as me singing songs I don't have the tone for, won't it?

[ Joker was practically the first person Yukine spotted in the crowd, knowing she needed SOME way of taming her fear. With someone new, she got a face of bravery. With someone experienced, she got to feel a little safer.

She held out her hand to pull him up. ]

I know people who do have problems singing.

[ Drunken gang members. ]

[Well, it’s pretty easy to see why her eye would fall on him first: antlers, wings, vivid pink eyes that practically glow in the gem-light of the disco ball the Ringmaster loves so much. There are just as many eyecatching people- the various skeletons for example- but Joker definitely has a brightness to him.]

[Chuckling, he reaches up to take her hand with his own one of gnarled wood and steps up onto the stage with a flutter of his wings.]

Well, I guess I can’t argue with that, now, can I? So! What are we singin’, Miss?

Let's put it on random...

[ Yukine herself was something of a determinist, although she realized that knowledge and sapience itself always tended to make the future murky and impossible to predict, hence what she decided to try.

Cyndi Lauper, True Colors. The drums began, followed by piano tunes. Yukine smiled!

She held Joker's hand with awe, looking at his antlers, his wings, and his very eyes that made Yukine know he was one of the veterans. More than frightened, by now she feels admiration and wonder, as this was part of the fantastic beings she would sometimes read about. ]

This one! [ As she holds her microphone, she leans close to him, smiling, hiding her own fear at a new audience the best she could, and gave him one last look before beginning. ]

[After ages of karaoke nights, Joker thinks he has a fairly decent memory for the songs they have. This particular singer, well, she’s come up more than a few times, and he’s relieved for that. As the music kicks up, he chuckles and leans into the mic.]

You with the sad eyes~
Don’t be discouraged~
Oh I realize~
It’s hard ta take courage~

[Whoops. Still a bit hard to get his accent out of things entirely. Oh well, it’s yet to bother anyone, and he winks down to the girl he’s singing with.]

In a world full of people~
Ya can lose sight of it all~
And the darkness inside of ya~
Can make ya feel so small~

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you!

[ She turns to Joker with a follow-up tease that she does the moment she sings the last sentence, smiling as she gleefully gets into the role, her own accent learned to be reduced. At this time, she does find his antlers endearing, awe-inspiring, and even finding his slit eyes unique. ]

So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

[ As Yukine sings the last word, she doesn't notice her own eyes change color for an instant, turning into a bright copper, faeish magic threatening to emerge from her to change her. ]

[In contrast, Joker doesn't miss that flicker of change, and he does his best to keep a reaction off his face. Some people take to the carnival's magic faster than others... He just hope it doesn't happen on stage and that there's a freakout.]

[Maybe it's good he's here to start with, if he can help calm it down before anything happens.]

[But for the time being, he keeps singing, bobbing from side to side cheerily.]

Show me a smile then,
Don't be unhappy, can't remember
When I last saw you laughin'~

[Wings hugged tight to his back so he doesn't accidentally smack someone, Joker gives a little spin just for fun.]

If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I'll be there!

[ Even with her changes, Yukine has no clue why is Joker looking at her in intrigue, and instead just assumes he is getting into the role as much as she is.

She holds Joker's hand for his spin, continuing her chorus, ]

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you!

[ Soon, Yukine's bobs with Joker become harder to control, not quite realizing the creeping shift of balance from the extra inch of height she slowly gains. She regains her balance by standing still, now holding his hands to hold themselves still.

And in a world of irony, Yukine's irises remain in that copper color, ]

So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful,
Like a rainbow

[ Sensing Joker easier to speak to up close, not knowing why, she leans forward to fake-whisper, microphone in hand, her extra centimeters of height turning noticeable. ]

Can't remember, when I last saw you laugh.

[Well, he has one good hand to keep her up on her feet once he notices she’s a bit wobbling, and he keeps smiling- stave off the probably inevitable panic if he keeps acting like everything is normal.]

[Thank god the song comes to an end, the veterans in the crowd probably having seen enough ridiculous nonsense enough in their lives, and Joker gives a whistle as he bows.]

Thank ya, everyone~. Round of applause for the lovely lady!

[He starts to lead the way for her off the stage- it seems like she’ll need it with the sudden height boost. That’s always dizzying.]

[ Yukine laughs! She waves her hand in thanks, actually having had the fun of her life and completely ignorant of what was happening to her, smiling widely as she descends beside Joker, and still struggling with her own new height.

So far, she had only realized she didn't need to look AS up to Joker as before. ]

I'm really sorry for that out there. I don't know what happened. [ She bows to him in an apology. ] I lost my balance somehow. I wonder if something was pushing me, or...

[ Yukine notices an odd glint of copper on the reflection of her empty glass, which Yukine notices, moves at the same time as her head does. ]

Nnnoooo problem there, miss!

[Hastily, he starts to guide her along through the crowd. Damage control time, although to what extent, he’s not sure yet.]

There’s actually somethin’ it just occurred ta me someone should talk with ya about when it comes ta workin’ here…. I’m Joker, by the by. Stage Manager.

[ Yukine slowly turns back to Joker, then at the crowds that kept looking at her even as she descended. She lifted her glass for a moment for a better look, until she was gestured to move on.

She smiles, and bows again, struggling somewhat with her balance. ]

It is nice to meet you, Joker-sama. It was really fun singing with you, and I look forward to work with you. [ She looks up. ] I was wondering about that... What is it about working here?

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orfeo in hades

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