THE GRAND BALL↴
Heartstone Manor is a giant, spooky castle floating in the middle of a twilight filled void. It is the home of a Wyld Fae calling himself The Prince - and despite his name, he is a bestial creature crammed into a gentleman's clothing, completely obsessed with replicating the ideals of old timey human society, much like the 1800's. The Prince and his many servants all dress in a manner appropriate to to the 1500's - 1800's, and decorum and beauty are held sacred above all else. All the workers of the carnival are currently staying there, in the hope of enabling a successful diplomatic venture between the Ringmaster and the Prince. The Grand Ball is being thrown by the Prince to honour these guests, but his manner of doing this is going to come as a bit of a surprise.
THE RULES↴
- Powers are all partially nerfed for 4th Wallers. They can be used in small to moderate ways for the sake of RP and narrative flavour, but 4th Wallers shouldn’t generally be using any powers in a super disruptive manner. No using powers for fighting with NPCs (yet), causing general chaos, or otherwise making your character a burden to the Prince. If they try, they’ll find themselves unable to do so.
- Your character isn’t sure how they got here but they think they’re okay with it. Your character won’t remember how they were captured by the Prince at the start of the ball. They’re just kind of here and in formal wear, and something tells them it’s probably fine to just enjoy the ball. They are wrong.
- In-game characters won’t initially remember how they all ended up at the ball either thanks to a temporary amnesia effect, but they will be able to be concerned about the fact that other people (possibly people they know) have shown up, and the fact that those other people are probably the Prince’s captives. Weren’t they doing something else at the castle before this, though? It’s hard to remember. This is all very confusing.
- 4th Wall character who aren’t apping in were possibly never the real deal in the first place. There are a mixture of genuine captives and spooky replications created with magic – this is to provide some flexibility regarding 4th wall character’s states in game, as well to allow more than one of each character to be played. If there are multiple people playing the same character, then whichever one has an app accepted will have been the real one.
- No doubles of in game characters. (Taken list here.) No AUs, no CRAUs, and nothing else besides characters that have full source canons or are original characters/fandom OCs with no bearing on the canon plot. If you tag in with a character who breaks these rules we reserve the right to remove them.
THE SETUP: 4TH WALLERS↴
- With incredibly foggy memories of their recent past, your character will find themselves at a grand ballroom dance, filled with a mixture of normal humans and odd looking humanoids that have strange features like wings, horns, tails, fur, and the like. They have vague memories of being dressed for the occasion, but are not sure by who or why. Most disturbingly, they will find that, at first at least, they don’t really care about the details. It seems like a pleasant event, doesn’t it? Why not enjoy it.
- This effect is definitely some kind of mind control, so you can feel free to have your characters be a bit confused and conflicted about it. Ultimately, they have been charmed to participate in the dance, so they will feel like riding the wave is the best thing to do even if that wouldn’t normally be their cup of tea. If your character has resistances to some forms of mind control, they are still overruled in this circumstance.
- They may discover people they recognize (castmates) or even duplicates of themselves (somehow?), and these can all be treated as canonly occurring and played out as such. This event is canon for Lost Carnival, so it should be played seriously and respectfully – not that silly shenanigans aren’t also bound to happen.
- All characters are required to dress in formal attire appropriate to a period area – specifically anywhere from the 1500s to 1800s. The Prince prefers if people are heteronormative in their clothing choices, but if you want you can probably get away with your ladies wearing suits or men wearing dresses as long as they look presentable otherwise.
THE SETUP: MANOR GUESTS↴
- You find yourself at the Grand Ball without really remembering how you got here. The last few days are a foggy blur, and though you can remember some of the important stuff you were dealing with, it will feel less important right at the start. Of course, as the night goes on, memories of how the carnival reached this event will become more and more clear – as well as the inevitable worry and stress that comes with it.
- For most people, there will have absolutely no memory of anything that happened after the morning of Day 175. Did the boating trip ever happen? Possibly not. Even as the night progresses, they will still have no recollection of how most of Day 175 went, which is probably disturbing. The Mod has contacted those that are exceptions to this privately to tell them what they will remember.
- The people lost to the Manor’s security earlier in the week will be here too, but not as guests. In fact, all of them will be dressed in the black attire of a Heartstone Manor servant and will seem pretty okay with that fact. There are parts of them that look changed – and their dispositions are definitely one of them. How else could they possibly be working for the Prince now?
- Updates to the event situation will be posted down in this section below. People can react to these posts as the circumstances change, and may new top levels based on them. It is possible to try to sneak away from the ball, but Manor Security will be trying to hunt you down. There is no mandatory outcome planed to this event, so character decisions can and will have a major effect in where the plot goes from here.
THE ACCOMODATIONS↴
- MUSIC AND DANCING: There will be music playing the whole night, and most of it is so good you feel practically compelled to dance to it. It's possible to resist, but why would you want to do that, you party pooper?
- FOOD AND DRINK: There are circle tables set up with fine silverware, and upon sitting down you will soon have a waiter come back to ask for an order. You can request basically any European cusine and it will be made for you. You will also be given drinks, most of which are alcohol, no matter your age. Fae don't care about children.
- BALCONY STARGAZING: There are balconies that are connected to the ballroom in multiple locations that you can step out onto to get some fresh air. You'll see the courtyard of the Manor down below you, but everything beyond that is black, as if the castle is floating within a twilight void. (Because it is.) One small change is that there are stars out tonight, probably added to the sky for the occasion.
- ALL NIGHT LONG: The ball will go on far into the early morning. Or, at least, until everyone fucks it up.
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ringleaders) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lostcarnival2017-10-13 06:00 pm
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"I think I do want to learn," Cole responds, definitively, as if making up his mind. He'll learn, he'll dance, he'll throw the thought from his muddled mind. "I wouldn't grab someone, though. I'd ask."
Someone has a loose grasp of idioms.
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He looks around quickly for a spot a little out of the way, because instruction actually on the dance floor would put him way in a spotlight he isn't even remotely interested in. It might not be entirely unwelcome at least to be around the orange haired young man, there's no overwhelming surges of emotion, just a steady evenness instead. No conflicting, struggling memories.
Maybe a little calm will be good. "C'mon. I'll show you how it's done over here. The basic couple anyway, good enough to enjoy the night with." With that he turns and heads for a spot where some tables were going to be set up, but the poor servants are simply waved away, sorry he needs this space right now.
no subject
Which honestly, Cole's confused as well, it's nice that they can be confused together.
So, he follows Ichigo over to a more open area. Open yet hidden, away from prying eyes. But as he waves the servants away, Cole can't help but feel a little spike of sorrow driven through his chest. "I'm sorry," Cole whispers to one of the servants, almost under his breath, but audible for Ichigo to hear. "We won't be long. He might not notice."
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"If anyone gives you trouble about it, I'll straighten it out." He certainly means it, surely a guest has priority over servants. Maybe not, but it was hardly the fault of the waitstaff that he's decided to take over their table space. It wouldn't take too long, and he didn't like people getting flak for his decisions. Well.. burn that bridge when he comes to it. "Maybe we'll stick to just two then, get it done a little faster. One quick and fun, the other ...that thing they're doing now."
It's called a waltz, Ichigo.
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But that's not the time. Right now, it's time to dance. And congratulations, Ichigo. Now, in Cole's mind, a waltz is officially called 'that thing they're doing now.' It's a bit of a long name, hopefully that thing they're doing now isn't as long as the name suggests.
"Which do you think is easier?" Cole asks. "We should start with that one."
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Absolute certainty has its downfalls. There hasn't been a single thing in his life he hasn't been able to out-stubborn, and now isn't likely to be an exception. Dancing might be easier but this other issue is awfully distracting too. Why would anyone get in trouble for having to wait a few minutes?
"..The one now is pretty easy. Boring but easy. Here." He should probably ask before touching, but he doesn't, he simply moves to grasp Cole's arms and place them where they're supposed to be for the most monotonous but also ubiquitous waltz - presuming Cole is in the lead. Ichigo's not keen on playing the lady but teaching Cole from the other perspective wouldn't do any good. "Hands go here. Feet go here. See?" Start point!
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He will not be good at dancing. But at least he'll put in effort. Cole's all awkward limbs and elbows as Ichigo places his arms where they need to be and Cole shuffles his feet into a position that vaguely resembles Ichigo's.
"Am I doing it right?" He's kind of doing it right. But Cole's form looks like he's never danced before in his entire life.
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Well. It'll be an exercise in patience. He needed to work on that too. "Yeah, pretty much."
Encouragement, and it certainly seems genuine. "It'll seem weird and awkward at first but when you get used to it, it'll be easy. If that takes a while, it's okay."
He is not suited for being a teacher but damn it, he's going to do his best. This is a ball! People are supposed to dance and have fun! "This entire thing is just three different steps, you can fancy it up later. Watch how it goes a time or two, so you don't have to look down later."
Unfortunately as Ichigo's player doesn't actually know how to properly describe the steps of a basic waltz, presume they go here.
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After Ichigo describes them, Cole attempts to do the steps himself, mimicking Ichigo's movements if the steps included a demonstration. He's not good. Cole can move in a pattern and follow instructions but he doesn't really have a sense of timing and he keeps on looking down at his feet.
"Like that?" Sort of like that.
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Honestly the only thing that seems hideously off is timing. Who didn't look at their feet when first learning? "Yeah, kind of. I think it's gonna take a bit more practice so you got it down without actually looking down." He thinks, frowning, trying to actually remember those hated lessons from school. How the hell did it go?
"Oh here try this. It's a three-step pattern so just try to keep time with counting. One-two-three, over and over. It's boring but it works." In theory! "Keep trying it out." Practice makes ... ..well maybe not perfect but at least less likely to squish toes and at that point surely fun can be had!
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Still, it's marginally better than before, especially if he's counting along.
"What do I do with my arms?"
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... Did they have time? Would there be long enough?
Maybe if 'fun' is focused on over perfection. "Basically I think you just leave them right where I put them. Some people do fancy twirls and things but it's not really necessary."
He's going to have to find someone to wrangle into this to help, maybe. But that means either grabbing a servant (and the poor things look overworked already), or grabbing another dancer..
"That's pretty much it though! I think once you practice it a few more times you'll be good to go if you take it easy and find a partner who's willing to dance with a novice. And hey if they're dancing with me, they're allowing novices."
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"How long do I have to dance?"
Because if he can just do one or two songs the whole evening...Cole can manage that.
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No, it could always be useful some other time, in some other place maybe. "And you can do as little or as much as you want. If that's all the time for hours, or if it's none at all."