lostcarnival | ⇨ FOURTH WALL EVENT! (OPEN TO ALL)

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⇨ FOURTH WALL EVENT! (OPEN TO ALL)

Who: Everyone and the 4th Wall Visitors!
When: Day 175
Where: Heartstone Manor
What: THE 4TH WALL BALL BEGINS! This is where unapped visitors can post and roleplay. Please read the rules and setting info below. For more information and visuals refs, read this. Questions can be asked over here.
Warnings: Individually marked! Could be a lot of things.

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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Ah, Rita. Someone much closer to his height and age than most of the adults he's been dancing with. Not that he hadn't managed, and just fine, but the waltz is a dance easier when there isn't half a foot of difference in height.

So when Rita's scouting for her next dance partner, Yuya steps to her and offers his hand. "Wanna dance?"

It's terribly casual, but being exceedingly proper really doesn't suit the two of them.

Yuya catches Rita just shortly after 9S wandered off in the middle of their dance. Her hands are balled into fists, her shoulders tense as she looks on to see where (or who) he ran off to. When Yuya approaches, she shifts awkwardly where she stands, suddenly self-conscious of how much she looks to be caring about something she obviously, totally doesn't care about.

It's just a stupid dance.

She looks at the offered hand and knows she ought to make her decision quick. Rita doesn't want to look like she's overthinking this. "Y-yeah, sure," she replies hastily, taking his hand.

He's not surprised Rita's a little awkward about this, because it's Rita. He's glad for her to take his offer, though, and he leads her to the floor with a grin.

"You look nice," he says as he turns to face her, because when they're all out of place here they can use whatever confidence boost they can get--and it's not untrue. "Ready?"

Rita's still distracted when Yuya offers the compliment, and it catches her off guard. Her gaze snaps back to meet his, her face slightly red. "Uh... thanks," she mumbles, then quickly tries to shake off that reaction.

Firmly, she replies, "Yeah. Of course I'm ready."

Since she's ready, and he's ready, Yuya leads them right into the dance. He doesn't point out her distractedness just yet, merely focusing on getting in rhythm with the other dancers.

"Are you enjoying this?" The dance, which is probably more out of Rita's element than Yuya's.

Rita follows, going through the steps relatively smoothly. It's a good thing she had that practice with Strange; she'd definitely have tripped by now if she hadn't.

At Yuya's question, Rita makes a bit of a face. There's no point in pretending she just discovered her inner princess, or something stupid like that. "It's not my kind of thing. Makes me glad I wasn't born a noble, honestly." Do they have to do this kind of thing all the time? Did Estelle have to go to events like this? Seems like a pain.

Yeah, that's about the response Yuya expected. Oh well. "But just one night isn't that bad, right?"

Okay, one night of dancing but four of... well, it was all kind of blurry up until now anyway. Actually, when did the ball even start?

He ends up staring out into space for a moment, lost to Rita as he tries to recall.

"I can deal with it. But it's going to be a long night." And Rita reserves the right to complain about it for as long as it lasts.

Noticing his change in demeanor, though, she tones the haughtiness down a notch and takes a moment to study his face. "Uh... you okay there?" It's not like Yuya to suddenly zone out like that.

"Huh?" He blinks back to focus, staring at Rita a little cross-eyed. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine!"

He smiles again to shake it off and assure her nothing's wrong. "Anyway, I should be asking you that! You weren't in a good mood when I approached."

Really, it could just be her general discomfort with the ball. So, for Yuya, it's just a deflecting topic change.

Rita's not sure she buys that he's fine, but when he changes the subject to her bad mood... she can't help but start ranting. "Yeah, well, considering how my last dancing partner ditched me out of nowhere..." she gripes through gritted teeth. Not that she cares about the dance! It's just the principle of it.

"Whoever developed those androids probably should've programmed some basic courtesy into them while they were at it. Hmph."

"Huh?" Yuya furrows his brow. He only knows of one android, unless a bunch more showed up as some of the other guests (were there always so many guests here?). "You mean 9S? Why'd he ditch you?"

That does sound pretty rude, but maybe he had a good reason? Maybe there was an emergency?

"Hell if I know. He just took off after some woman." After going out of his way to send all kinds of mixed messages to Rita, at that. She casts a look into the crowd of dancers, but she doesn't see him or that woman right now. "Guess he's just a skirt-chasing jerk after all."

There is an excessive amount of bitterness in her tone.

Yuya frowns at that. 9S didn't seem like a bad guy, but he also didn't understand stuff about humans, so maybe he didn't mean it. But it's still clearly bothering Rita a lot, so he probably shouldn't keep asking about it.

Instead, he shrugs. "We can dance for two songs if you want. He's the one missing out!"

Rita frowns. It's a kind gesture (and she isn't really opposed to the suggestion), but... "It's not about the dancing," she grumbles, her temper coming down from a boil to a light simmer. She's not sure how to say what it is about, though.

"A-and don't even think about feeling sorry for me!" she adds hastily. As if that's something a person could only do on purpose, just to annoy her.

"I-I wasn't!" Okay, he was a little. Still, he's going to assume if Rita's usual tactic of 'put herself above the other person to feel better' isn't working, this probably hit pretty deep.

"I'll listen if you want to talk about it. Or we can just... have fun with the ball."

Talk? That's the last thing Rita wants to do right now. She feels like an idiot...

"I don't..." she begins, but seems to think better of it, and instead goes with, "I guess we can just... do this, for a while." Or something. Rita doesn't actually know how to have fun at an event like this, but she sure as hell could use the distraction.

Yuya's sense of fun is also a little inappropriate, give the event. But he's adapting and the dancing keeps him on his feet and really, that's enough.

"Okay." Not that it stops him from pulling Rita into a too-fast twirl, smiling with amusement like he knows he just pulled that move off wrong. He knows he did.

"I still think the archery was the best, but this is better than the past few days."

Not that he can quite remember why the past few days have been so terrible.

There's a flicker of surprise in Rita's expression when she gets twirled unexpectedly, but she manages to move her feet fast enough to catch up with the movement and continue smoothly. She looks mildly annoyed, but at least the error snaps her out of other, less productive thoughts, so she doesn't bother snapping at him over it.

"Yeah..." she agrees, somewhat absently. The past few days sucked. She's not sure exactly why, but they certainly did. "At least archery was a useful skill, unlike most of the crap we've been doing here." It even came in handy during the hunt. Or did it?

"It doesn't have to be useful," he raises an eyebrow. "As long as you like doing it, that's all that matters."

And Yuya for... some reason didn't like doing a lot of stuff from the past few days, but he's having a hard time recalling any specific examples. Well, it's probably better not to dwell on negative thoughts anyway, right? This is about having fun and enjoying themselves.

Does she like archery...? It's actually hard to say. Rita likes winning, and she likes the feeling she gets when she lands a perfect bulls-eye, but does she like the activity in general...? Hmm.

"I like doing things that are useful," she retorts. Yep, for some reason, Rita feels the need to justify having hobbies, like it's just not good enough to simply enjoy anything. "Fortunately, some of the skills inherent in archery can have applications in magic, as well. Focus, aim, depth perception... hmm. I bet I could use this experience as a foundation for a new spell."

"Yeah, but you can also like doing things that aren't useful." He furrows his brow. He understands that she loves her magic and blastia, and relating archery or other skills to it is great and all. He's passionate about duel monsters too, but...

He's reminded of Greysol, and the conflicting opinions between her and her daemon. "You know, like those myths you like to read. I'm not going to think you're less smart or anything."

Well, that throws Rita right off. She nearly loses her footing, and she tightens her grip on Yuya's hand and shoulder to keep herself steady.

"What!? I don't... I wasn't worried about that, or anything," she sputters, her head sinking and her eyes avoiding his.

Yuya tightens his grip as she falters as well, just in case she loses pace with the dance--it'd be pretty unfortunate for them to trip and tumble on the dance floor.

He doesn't look convinced by Rita's words, however. "You're not?" She might be avoiding his gaze now, but he grins smartly anyway, raising a brow. "Then there's no problem liking something just because it's fun, right? Because you don't have anything to prove."

That's just logic, right?

Rita has no rebuttal. "Urgh... yeah. Sure." Her face is getting red, and her voice is coming out as little more than a low mumble.

Damn you, Yuya.

He got her to acquiesce, but it's not really a victory when she still isn't smiling. Absently, he wonders if people made fun of her for something like this, too.

He's still grinning, but it shifts from something challenging to a much more friendly and welcoming expression. "I still want to hear that story sometime. And the other myths from your home. They sound really neat."

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anti_nonsense - 2017-10-26 06:15 (UTC) - Expand

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