⇨ FOURTH WALL EVENT! (OPEN TO ALL)

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[wild_magic]

[...Yeah that's kind of weird, and disturbing, but he still presses on.]

And you aren't hers? You have a contract too.

[soft_focus]

...I broke the rules, [she says to that.]

....I belong to the Prince now.

[wild_magic]

And you're okay with it, because he's stronger. [Or at least, she's saying she's okay with it. It seems she really isn't okay with it, though, but pointing that out isn't going to help right now he thinks.]

[soft_focus]

....I'm alive this way, [She replies dully, but her eyes still betray her emotions. She's terrified, and this conversation is only making it worse.]

I need to keep doing my job.

[wild_magic]

Well, I'm not stopping you from doing your job, I'm just talking while you do it. Is that okay? Or is not talking to me part of your job too? [Not that he can't take a hint, she doesn't seem to want to talk to him because of being scared, but at the same time, now that he's actually finding things out and talking to someone that's been taken like this... He doesn't want to just let her go. He's gotten hurt and risked his life for even stupider things than that before. it comes with being a d&d character after all]

[soft_focus]

[There is....a conflict of thoughts. ...But she does start to walk, and she doesn't stop Susan from following. Under her breath, she replies-] ....I'm not supposed to start talking.

....

....You can, if you must, however.

[wild_magic]

Then I will, 'cause I like talking. So it's definitely me starting it.

[He just has to think of what to say, how else to get her to stop doing something she's clearly terrified of, or how to get some other information on how to fix things. All he knows is that apparently breaking the rules means the Prince can take you from the Ringmaster, and that she has to do what he says now despite being scared. And it seems that even her life is at risk, so he doesn't mind killing his people, maybe. Or at least hurting them and giving them weird changes, although honestly he's not sure if those are just from being in the Carnival or from something else, but she didn't look like that before and she hasn't been around long enough to look too different, he thinks.

He follows along with her, but it takes him a little bit of thinking before he speaks again.]

It doesn't seem very fair to punish people that bad for breaking the rules when he has so many of them.

[soft_focus]

[WELL!!! ...Fine. At the very least Susan isn't saying anything like 'well I'll save you', or trying to actually do anything. It's an annoyance, but if he's not in the way of her work, she can handle it. She continues collecting the dishes.]

....It's fair to him, [She counters.]

That's all that matters.

[wild_magic]

[He's not saying it, but he's definitely thinking it, and trying to convince her away from him is his first step in trying it.]

He's not the only one that matters, though. Is it fair to you? I know you don't really care since he wants it and all, but I don't think it is. It's not right to just make someone do something for breaking a rule. [Which honestly is a problem he has with the Ringmaster too, but at least she isn't apparently terrifying and threatening her people, only making them do dumb jobs.]

mfw reira would flat tell him RM's the best person to ever look after her cries

[soft_focus]

It's fine, if I stay alive, [she remarks blankly, still performing her duties as robotically as possible.]

...Nothing bad happened, when I listened. It was only when I stopped, that I was hurt.

It's better to listen.

[Y i k e s]

susan's feelings on RM are very complicated but at least he isn't hating her any more after all this

[wild_magic]

[Well that's disturbing. And pretty upsetting too. He doesn't know her very well, but people getting hurt is basically the one thing he can never deal with happening.

But even though he's angry, and it probably shows a little in his clenched fists, he doesn't say that yet.]

Listening is better most of the time, I guess. But do you want to have to listen, or is it just easier?

sobs yeah,,,,yeah,,,

[soft_focus]

[Does she want to? The poison seeps through her mind, and forces an answer out. She doesn't have a choice. No choice at all. NONE.]

I have to, [She answers, and she continues to work.]

[wild_magic]

[He grimaces at that. He figures she's avoiding the question, or that she doesn't know better, and either case isn't good. He's just hoping he can somehow get through to her or something.]

That's not what I asked though. I know you have to. But sometimes we have to do things we don't like, you know? Like, following the rules or eating real food or putting on fancy clothes. I didn't like having to stay in a room without my brother but I still had to do it.

[soft_focus]

It doesn't matter if I like it, or if I don't like it.

I have to.

I need to live. [she adds, and the last statement comes as a hiss-the first change of emotion as she finally hisses and glares, eyes piercing toward the other while she moves.]

[wild_magic]

But you aren't happy here, you're scared! We can fix this if you just tell me why you're doing it and how to stop it!! [Welp, there's the anger. Susan can only hold it off for so long, even if he's talking to a child who's even smaller than him.]

[soft_focus]

It doesn't matter. [She would have flinched, if she were herself. But instead she takes the empathetic blow with the strength of a steel door, continuing on her way.]

....You can't stop it.

[wild_magic]

Yes I can! I can and I'm going to, just tell me what I have to do to do it! [Apparently yelling at kids is the way to get answers, who knew? Even as he's mad at her he keeps following, not wanting to let her go. He's going to find a way to fix this.]

[soft_focus]

There is nothing to do.

If you try, you'll work here too.

He'll make sure of it, [she adds chillingly-and perhaps there is something to those words. Reira is, after all, considerably...Different from when they even entered the Manor's grounds. Stones cover at least half of her face, crystal roses grow from the left of her head....this is the sort of change that takes so much longer to develop at the carnival under typical circumstance.

Yet here Reira is....looking like this.]

[wild_magic]

I won't work for him. But I won't let you, either, you don't even want to! He can't just make you do it or make you get hurt. It's wrong, and evil! I'll just kill him if I have to, if that's the only thing I can do.

[soft_focus]

You won't have a choice, if he catches you.

[Is that a catch, perhaps? Being caught?

Perhaps it is.]

....You can't kill him. He's stronger than you.

He's stronger than all of us.

[wild_magic]

[Susan isn't always perceptive of what's around him, but when it comes to conversation, to other people, he's a master. He does catch on to her words, and he goes with those.]

He won't catch me. And he won't catch you, either, if you tell me what to do. I'll make sure of it.

[soft_focus]

I'm already Caught. [Her words are ice again-and her eyes filled with hate once more as she glares, before continuing on her way.]

Follow the rules. ...Or else bad things will happen.

[wild_magic]

And I'm trying to uncatch you. Don't you want that?! [He almost doesn't follow after her, but... No, he has to. He doesn't have any other way, he needs her. He follows after a moment anyway, catching up to her.]

[soft_focus]

It doesn't matter. [A broken record, that's what she is. Reira starts to move for the entrance to the ball area, the point at which Susan will be barred from exit.] You can't take me from the Prince.

[wild_magic]

Then, tell me why not! Why can't I just use my magic to fix this? [Because he wants to do it, he wants to just use his magic to charm her to come with him or to turn her into an animal, into something small, and carry her away, but how much trouble would he get in then, and without any answers? At least if she'll tell him this much, he can try to make a plan.]