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
well let's just die i guess
Fuck this.
For a long while, he stays perched where he is- far enough from the balcony so that it's not easy for someone to chatter at him or see him immediately, but not so far as to be mistaken for running away. With his knees bunched up, he passes his hand over his face. It really is Celebration all over again. He doesn't know how, which is almost more terrifying. They'd known what to do with Celebration, with Hell. He'd been bad at it, casting out that ugly monstrous part of himself, so sure it had been a real part of him in some way, but, Christ. At least they'd known.
But he doesn't know here. He doesn't know anything- what's been happening the past few days, what could have made any of their own change sides, what is going on-
What is he supposed to do?
It takes a little while for him to come up with any kind of answer.
Sora can avoid people as much as he like. That's fine. Yet as he goes around, serving various drinks, something will catch at the edge of his hearing. At first, it might be easy. It's a party, after all! Plenty of chatter, plenty of music. Yet this- the sound that is undeniably music of its own sort, yet going against what has been selected- is different. It follows him, quiet but persistent. Perhaps- hopefully- Sora will recall it.
An angel sang it to someone with the same name, once upon a time.
Even frazzled, Joker is good at a lot of things. He's good at faking it, for starters. A lifetime of refining social skills gives him another, and there's also what he learned as a butler, as a thief, a kidnapper. All of it together makes him rather good at sliding amongst the crowd, trying to stay out of sight.
too late i'm already dead
At first, he only hears a whisper of it, floating by his ears as he smiles mindlessly at the guests, and he chalks it up to his imagination. He's heard that song what seems like a million times, he knows it by heart despite the dissonance between those two lives. It makes him happy for a split second, then makes his heart plummet into his stomach when he remembers he'll never hear it again.
But then he does hear it again, louder this time, and he stops, his (thankfully empty) tray falling from his hands, clanging to the ground. Snatching it up, Sora starts looking around frantically, looking for who he knows the song is coming from.
Is he looking for Joker so he can go to him, or so he can run away from him? He's not sure.
The song gets louder again, and he can't deal with this right now. It's too hard, makes his heart hurt in his chest, and he doesn't want to look Joker in the eyes and see it.
He turns and darts away, not sure where he's going.
yOU BROUGH IT ON YOURSELF
Joker just hopes Sora's are obvious enough as he tries to follow after him, not able to lurk so neatly in the crowd when he's pursuing someone instead of just trailing behind. Managing to keep singing like he is? That's a talent one gets when they're a ringleader, a showman.
what can i say, i'm here for the pain
Instead, he keeps running, shuffling his way through the crowd as best he can, and wow he's never been so glad to be short in his life. It makes it easy to move under arms and around skirts, somehow managing to keep the speed without knocking over a single person.
Finally, he makes it to the edge of the crowd, popping out and finding himself on the balcony. There's a few people out, but they're on the far side, out near the railing and a good distance away from Sora. He instead heads away from them, swinging around the corner and pressing himself against the wall a few feet from the doors. He slides down the wall, sitting with his knees to his chest, and abandons the empty tray next to him. He can clean it when he goes back to the kitchen, when he's certain he's lost Joker to the crowds.
no subject
Which means he has to be all the more careful, honestly. Corners are where fights can get the worst, the nastiest.
With his breath returned to him, Joker steps out onto the balcony and sweeps a gaze around. Nowhere straight ahead but- ah. There's the glint of metal, the kind of platter he knows quite nicely. Carefully, he sidesteps the doors and just... lets himself sink down against the wall. It grates at his wings, to do this kind of thing, but Joker ignores it.
"I'm sorry." It's a soft sound, almost easy to miss under the sound of music from inside. Almost. "I should have made sure ya stayed in yer room. If nothin' else."
no subject
The wind is starting to pick up, now, ruffling Sora's hair, and wow, if nothing else he's grateful for the fact that his servant's uniform includes a jacket. It's still warmer outside than it was in the dungeons, though. For a long moment, there is only silence, and the sound of the wind lightly rustling the things around them.
"...It's not your fault," Sora says finally, so quiet it's barely audible. "It was my decision to leave."
Whether he means leaving his room, or leaving the carnival, he doesn't specify.
no subject
Instead, he just says, "Even so. It can't have been pleasant." Whichever way he means. "I know it wasn't for me, when I got taken."
A bait, a lure. Sora, he thinks, isn't as changed as Sans... At least, it doesn't seem like that. Hopefully, he can.... He doesn't know. But he has to talk, has to try.
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But he must have had a reason, right? Why else would he and Rin and the others have become servants? He's completely adamant that he's in the right here, that this was the right choice, that this is where he belongs now. But thinking about it too hard is giving him a headache.
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"I'm suspectin' a lot of folks don't remember," he says, keeping his voice calm and quiet. "I know I don't, not much. Seems a little bit unfair, I think. Not particularly gentlemanly, either."
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He does, however, strongly disapprove of anyone talking bad about the Prince. But, maybe it was just a slip, so he'll give the benefit of the doubt here.
"I'm sure he has his reasons. The Ringmaster does stuff without asking all the time, and no one ever questions her."
no subject
What a fuckin' atrocious thing to do to a child.
"Anyone ever tell ya about some of the folks who worked at the carnival before this round of travelin'?" he asks instead, seeming to change things rather suddenly.
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Even when they come back, his interest is still piqued, so he shakes his head in reply.
"No. What about them?"
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Straightening up, he continues on. "She couldn't have been more than yer size, I think! Last I saw her, lessee... Her eyes had gone this sorta purple, all the way through, and she had lines of amethysts that went all up her arms. Oh, and horns just the same, but just this row of four, right over her brow. Finally- and this is the most important thing- she left glitter everywhere." Joker laughs. "She sat down in my trailer once and I don't think I got rid of it for weeks!"
Good thing he has a sense of humor about that sort of nonsense. "So, can ya imagine her in yer head well enough? Small lass, purple and glittery?"
no subject
But he wants to. He should hate this, but he can't bring himself to. The noise of the ballroom is still audible out here, but somehow the stone wall between here and there makes it all seem so far away. Like they're not suddenly on opposite sides. He wraps his arms around his knees and nods, wondering where Joker is going with this story.
no subject
So he continues, glossing over the issue. "But she was really ticked about it. About how the Ringmaster handled it, especially! Anyway, so people's contracts were startin' ta come ta an end, and it was on the last day of most of 'em, and this lass- she asked for people's attention on the radio. Can ya guess what she was about ta do?"
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Sora is certain he doesn't have the foggiest idea. There were a lot of regrets about the carnival, but his contract conditions were not one of them.
"Ask for a raise?"
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"But my favorite thing she said was that she hoped the next time the Ringmaster used a bathroom that a hedgehog came out of her."
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"Someone said that? To the Ringmaster?"
No wonder this girl isn't around anymore, really. She probably got toasted.
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"I had ta bite my tongue so the Ringmaster didn't hear me laughin'!" Well, and he'd been recovering from being a little beaten up himself, but hey.