ringleaders: (Default)
Lost Carnival Mods ([personal profile] ringleaders) wrote in [community profile] lostcarnival2017-10-13 06:00 pm

⇨ 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.
dressedtothe: (aw man the fridge is running)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-15 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
9S yelps when Rita suddenly grabs his hand. Hey, manhandling! But eventually their hands are everywhere they're supposed to be, and they can get started.

9S does an... okay job at leading. Maybe not totally in time with the music all the time, but he doesn't step on her toes and keeps their movements simple and basic.

"So, what do you think?" Honest assessment, Rita.
anti_nonsense: (Waste of time.)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-15 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not bad for a beginner, I guess," says Rita, a beginner. "Your rhythm could use some work." Hers is only marginally better.

Her gaze wanders around the room, at the decor, the dancers, everything. "Not that we'll be doing anything like this again anytime soon." So, logically, it's probably not a skill worth putting the effort into honing.
dressedtothe: (reserved for 2Bs)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-15 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Harsh! Not as bad as some of the stuff 21O tells him, but you'd think a human would be kinder...

"Why not? Lots of people look like they're having fun." You could even say they're having a ball of a time! "Maybe we could hold another one at the Carnival. One with fewer stuffy rules."
anti_nonsense: (I'm sure you'll get to the point someday)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-16 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmph... that'd be an improvement, I guess. But personally, I'll probably be sick of dancing after tonight." She's sick of it already. Isn't she...?

It's weird. Rita doesn't care for dancing one bit, yet she doesn't particularly want to stop, either. It's not that it's fun, but it feels... comfortable. Maybe there is something about it that she likes, but she can't put her finger on it.

"You like this kind of stuff?" she asks after a moment, genuinely curious even though the question could easily come off sounding like she's questioning his taste. Then again, maybe there's a bit of that, too.
dressedtothe: (my name is fine)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-16 09:17 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmmm..."

There's someone else he'd really like to dance with. Someone whose heels would click on the floor with every graceful step. There's not much chance it would happen, though; 2B isn't here.

But it's... nice, dancing with Rita. Rita, who is smart and amazing and determined in a way androids could never achieve. Rita, who is a slob and punches people and is fun to hang out with.

"Maybe? We don't do this sort of thing back home, so this is pretty new to me." He adjusts his grip on Rita's hand. "But this is something you can't experience by yourself. You have to dance together with someone. Don't you think that makes it special?"
anti_nonsense: (dere dere)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-16 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Special...? For someone with a mechanical mind to find meaning in simple things like this... There's something beautiful about that, in a way.

But now Rita's starting to feel her face getting hot, and her first response to that is to deflect. "Not really," she answers hastily, her eyes darting around as if she's not sure where to look.
dressedtothe: (these lips don't lie)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-16 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
9S ducks his head, a little embarrassed. But Rita hasn't outright slammed away his feelings on things, so he continues talking.

"Well, I'm glad you're here, Rita. I think this ritual of dancing in pairs... It only has meaning when it's with someone you like."
anti_nonsense: (No one wants your manly musk.)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-17 09:15 am (UTC)(link)
Someone you like...? He can't mean... No, of course not. The very idea is ridiculous. Maybe he didn't mean for it to sound that way. Or... did Strange put him up to this?

"Do you even know what you're saying!? Quit joking around," Rita sputters, her face growing redder.
dressedtothe: (my name is fine)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-17 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
"I really mean it, though!" 9S insists. "I'm not joking!"

Like. He wouldn't do this with Peridot.

He grins, though. "You're not embarrassed, are you?"
anti_nonsense: (No one wants your manly musk.)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-17 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"Who, me? Don't be stupid," she retorts sharply, despite still being visibly flustered. It's a wonder that her feet have managed to keep up all this while, as her mind races to make sense of the situation. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I didn't think you... you know, felt that way?"

He treated it like a joke before, and now he tells her he likes her in such a sincere-sounding way... what's she supposed to think!?
dressedtothe: (a high-end model)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-17 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"Really?" 9S' steps, by contrast, are confident and sure, even if they're slightly off beat. "I thought it was obvious..."

That he enjoys her company.

"You're smart and quick-thinking, and what you're trying to achieve back home... I really admire that."

Hm. That's weird... is he picking up a signal of another android? His expression shifts to one of mild confusion, as he reaches out with his sensors to try and identify it.
anti_nonsense: (you're embarrassing both of us)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-18 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
It's supposed to be obvious? Yeah, well, it's not like Rita has any experience with this kind of thing. But then again, neither does he! ... Does he?

"I, um... thanks?" Rita really doesn't know how to react to this. When someone says they like someone else, the other person's expected to give some sort of answer, aren't they? But Rita hasn't thought about this, really. Normally, it would be easy to shoot someone down and end the conversation to avoid all awkwardness, but with the atmosphere, and their hands locked together... and, well, maybe she sort of does care about what 9S thinks of her, in a way...

"Look... I don't know if..." She's struggling to think of what to say.
dressedtothe: (ow right in the heart)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-18 10:04 am (UTC)(link)
9S barely notices Rita's struggle to respond to him; his attention is completely occupied. His breath catches in his throat. That signal..! It's...

2B.

His gaze leaves Rita, eyes frantically scanning the crowd where he'd picked up her ID. There. In a black dress longer than her usual, her movements as graceful as ever.

9S returns his attention back to his dance partner, but he's already untangling his fingers from hers and pulling away. "I'm sorry, Rita," he says quickly, "I..."

What's 2B doing here? She's supposed to be back home, back in the Bunker! And she looks really good in that dress...

"I have to go."
anti_nonsense: (This changes everything!)

[personal profile] anti_nonsense 2017-10-18 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"--Huh?" The last thing Rita expected here was for 9S to suddenly pull away.

He has to go? Now!?

She didn't even finish saying what she had to say! Even though Rita herself isn't too sure how she was going to finish that sentence, but still! At first, she's just dumbstruck that he'd try to walk away in the middle of a conversation like this.
dressedtothe: (high riser)

[personal profile] dressedtothe 2017-10-19 11:21 am (UTC)(link)
Yep, now.

"Sorry," he quickly apologises again, before turning and running, following 2B's signal.

Bye Rita.

[ooc: Continued here]