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.
|
|
|
|
|
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ringleaders) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lostcarnival2017-10-13 06:00 pm
no subject
He stares after Rita's retreating back for a moment, guilt and regret pooling in his gut area. He's not quite sure why Rita'so angry, only that she is.
But eventually, he wrenches the rest of his attention back towards 2B. Now that Rita is gone, he doesn't know what to say, grimly aware of his pain receptors in his injured hand and time slipping away from them.
"... Let's go somewhere quieter," he says, not quite looking at 2B before he turns to lead them towards one of the balconies.
no subject
She's mulling over what to say to him. She doesn't know what to say to him. Does she admit to everything? It's her last chance to do so, as far as she knows.
Truthfully, that thought frightens her. The knowledge that 9S might spend their last time together hating her for what she's done to him... 2B doesn't think she could bear that pain, no matter how she might deserve it.
no subject
He doesn't know where to begin.
"Say, 2B...?" So he begins where his emotions bring him. "Did you really mean it...? When you said you truly treasured the time you spent with me? Because..."
He looks away from her, uninjured hand pressing against his bleeding one.
"I don't know if it's that's true." He curls his right hand into a fist. How can he believe it? After everthing he's seen, not just tonight. "I noticed, alright? I'm a Scanner model, remember?" The words aren't spoken with the usual pride. "What is it about partnering with me that makes you so..." indescribably, "sad?"
He remembers their conversation about going shopping when the war is over. The warmth that had lit her words when she spoke... and the deep sadness in her expression when she turned away. 9S takes a breath, closing his eyes.
"If... if being around me is painful for you," if that's the reason why she won't join the Carnival, "then maybe..." his throat feels like it's closing up, as if he's being strangled, "maybe it's better this way."
Even though it hurts so much. Even though he doens't want to let her go. Even though he doesn't know how he'd live without her any more... Don't leave me, he wants to say.
"If you want me to go... then please. Tell me."
no subject
He's also the reason for her sadness and guilt. "Being around you is painful." She starts, pausing for a moment and chewing on her next choice of words. "It's also... nice. The time I spend with you means more to me than anything else." She relaxes her hand, trying to fight to keep her expression even, but the look of sadness returns.
And yet, she speaks again, an unusual fondness colouring her tone. "I wouldn't trade the time I spent with you for anything, 9S. I don't want you to leave. I don't ever want you to leave."
no subject
Please, don't leave me. Don't leave me alone.
"If you're with someone you care about, it shouldn't hurt. 2B... When I'm with you... it's like a light in a sea of darkness."
But it hurts. It hurts not knowing, not understanding. Why does it hurt, feeling like she's a distant star whose warmth he craves?
"So why... why isn't it the same way for you? Why is it so painful for you to be around me?"
no subject
She's hurting him now.
She always hurts him. It doesn't matter what she does.
It's no longer about keeping it a secret from him because of a mission. There is no more mission, YoRHa is soon to be completely eradicated, and she's... Not long after them.
She deserves it, what is going to happen to her. 9S doesn't. With her gone, for once he'll be able to keep all of his memories.
no subject
Her designation falls from his lips, desperate, as he steps forward to grasp her shoulders with both hands.
"Please don't leave things like this." Don't leave me don't leave me don't leave me. "I want to understand, please, 2B!" 9S murmurs a mirror of the words 2B had spoken when they found that missing Resistance member who died to a machine out for revenge. "...It's the truth. I have to know."
no subject
She hates it, hates that he's using her words against her. Maybe with this he'll hate her. Maybe with this at least he'll be free. Maybe he'll fight her and kill her, and wouldn't that just be what she deserves after all this time?
2B is wearing a grimace on her face, because she's never told him. Not in any of his previous resets. Though maybe if she had, he'd never have gone looking through YoRHa's files.
Maybe things could have been different.
no subject
If 2B had been expecting 9S to understand just from that, she's sorely mistaken. The confusion is clear on his face.
"I don't understand. I've never heard of a Type E designation" He'd even told Scout it doesn't exist. "What does it do?"
no subject
no subject
Suddenly, the shortness of his memory makes sense. What he'd assumed was corruption in his memory forcing a factory reset was really... it was on purpose, wasn't it? He doesn't remember being partnered with her previously, which can only mean that 2B -- despite her words, she'll always be 2B to him -- was ordered to kill him, and then Command is wiping his memory.
Now he understands why 21O had been even more distant, when they were talking about family.
"But... why?" He feels faint. His world is tilting, shaken by this revelation. Why would Command order 2B to kill him?
Those times where 2B seemed to discourage him from thinking about things further, the way 21O tried to discourage him from prying into the mystery of why 2B (and himself by virtue of being partnered with her) was tasked with hunting down and eliminating those deserters who were reported to have stolen from the Resistance, only for that to have been a lie...
It all fits together.
His hands slip from 2B's shoulders. "Command had secrets," he says slowly. "I would've wanted to figure them out... That's why, isn't it? And then the moment they realise I know... They order you to kill me."
It hurts to realise that the Command he trusted so much cared so little for him. He already knew they were like ants, tiny, insignificant, easily replaceable. But the betrayal still twists, like a knife in his back.
Yet, he can't help the smile -- tired and sad -- curling the corners of his mouth. "But, you know, 2B. If I was going to be killed by anyone... I'm glad it was you."
no subject
She'll never get to see him be happy like that.
She doesn't deserve it anyway.
no subject
"That's right. There's no more Command. There's no more YoRHa. There won't be any more orders for you to kill me." 9S squeezes her hands. "2B... You don't have to leave. Come with me to the Carnival. Then you can be you, too!"
He wants to lean in, but all he can manage is tightening his grip on her hands.
"I could only bear being away from you because I knew I would see you again. Without you... I don't know what I'll do."
no subject
"That's for you to decide." She can't tell 9S how to live his life, how to be free from the never ending cycle. 2B doesn't know how to do that herself, after all.
Her only escape is death.
"I..." She wants to join him at this carnival, to spend time with him in small, meaningless ways that mean the world to her. "I'd like that."
no subject
In all his daydreams of what he'll do when the war is over and peace is obtained, 2B is always in them. In everything he imagines the future will be, 2B is always in them. Even if they don't know what they'll do, it would be okay, as long as she's there with him.
Droplets of rain begin to splash down on them as the storm starts, but 9S is too enthralled to notice. It sounds like 2B's coming around to the idea of joining the Carnival. His expression immediately brightens.
"So you'll join?"
He's both so happy and so relieved. It means... it means 2B can be saved, surely! Liquid begins to well up in his eyes, and he immediately reaches up to wipe it away. It's the rain, it's absolutely totally definitely the rain.
"Then we'll have the time to do all the things we couldn't before." For the first time since the conversation begin, he smiles, genuine. "We'll be able to go shopping together! I'll be able to buy you that T-shirt!"
no subject
"I'll hold you to it." But for now... 2B looks upwards at the sky as it drops water on the pair of them, and curiously, she holds out her hand, catching a few drops and letting them pool on her glove.
"There's water falling from the sky."
no subject
"This must be rain," he says in wonder, holding out both of his hands so the water can soak into his gloves. "It's precipitation from the condensation of water due to atmospheric pressure. Humans would use tools called 'umbrellas' to shield themselves from it. Apparently getting wet from rain was something humans avoided, but records don't say why."
But he makes no move to leave the balcony, instead his gaze returning to 2B.
"2B, I..." 9S worries at his lower lip. How to put his feelings into words? Instead, he reaches for 2B's visor. "Can I?"
Pull it off, so he can see her eyes.
no subject
But 9S is reaching for her visor now, and she can see his nervous expression, the way he hesitates.
2B is fully capable of removing the visor herself, but she nods all the same, slow and sure. "Yes."
She has no right to deny him anything.
no subject
"2B..." he begins, gripping 2B's visor in his hand uselessly, uncertain of what to do with it now that he actually has it. "All those times... It must have been so painful for you." He steps forward, just a little closer. He wants to reach up, but his hands remain at his sides. "But you won't have to suffer any more."
no subject
2B has always hated how expressive her eyes were, and she feels like it's easy for 9S to be able to pick out each individual feeling as it happens. She watches him, hands kept in place at her sides.
2B chews on her words a moment, letting herself enjoy the droplets of rain falling on her skin. "You won't have to suffer anymore."
She can still hear him, dying. Gagging as he chokes on his own blood, his whimpers as his black box fizzles out...
Never again.
no subject
But somehow, he thinks that maybe, maybe, the other 9Ses before him were happy it was 2B who killed him.
He inches a little closer, their bodies almost touching, and looks up at 2B. Her eyes are no different to any other android's, but he's captivated all the same. His pulse rate is spiking dangerously at this proximity. His voice drops to a whisper, "You don't have to be distant any more."
Maybe... maybe her feelings are the same as his? But she had been bound by her duty. A duty that no longer exists.
He reaches up to cup her cheek with his free hand, all too aware of his artificial heart pounding in his chest. Slowly, his eyes locking with hers and looking for any sign of not wanting this, he leans up and closes the distance between their mouths.
no subject
The closer she is to 9S, the more it hurts both of them.
She doesn't move in to help close the distance, but once his lips are on hers, 2B sighs through her nose at the closed distance, the relief, the fear, it's all mingling into one mixed up strange emotion that makes her chest hurt and her heart race.
Slowly, tentatively, 2B presses back against him, deciding to no longer be idle, and her hand moves to the small of 9S's back, like it had when they'd be dancing.
This, is what she's wanted for so long. This is the closeness she's been craving with 9S.
Tmw 'so long' is one month because 9S is a baby
That uncertainty flees the moment their lips meet.
His pulse is racing beneath his synthetic skin, spiking dangerously when he feels 2B's hand on his back, letting out a quiet breath. He's wanted this for so long...
He's not sure what to do next, human records had been delightfully vague about how all this works, other than locking lips. The rain comes down hard, plastering his hair against his face and running into his eyes. The hand clutching her visor still dangles uselessly at his side. Even so, he can't help but feel the swell of happiness in his chest, to the point his processors feel like they're about to short out.
He's kissing 2B...
... And she's kissing him back.
But what is he supposed to do next?? He didn't think this would ACTUALLY happen. 9S pulls away a little so he can attempt clearing his thoughts, though he can't help the stupidly happy grin on his face.
resteroni in pepperoni 9S
2B subtly worries her lip, watching 9S with an entirely new and unique... feeling. It's nervousness. It's excitement. It's fear. It's all of those mixed into one, and 2B almost feels like her balance stabilizers are off, and she's not sure if it's from the kiss or maybe if water is leaking into her frame somehow from the rain.
Her pulse is rapid too. How odd.
"9S."
with a side helping of cheese
He can't help but smile blissfully when he replies, "Yes, 2B?"
no thats for his whineS
Then they made out for like 10 years