{ haunted carnival | test drive #08 - october 2022 }

[dreamposts]

HAUNTED CARNIVAL

Full details on everything can be found here, but an important reminder that this event log doubles as our Test Drive Meme and information can be found in this section.

This means any outside characters participating in the log are canonly logged as appearing in Songerein in October and will remain in Songerein from the IC date of October 25 through 31 (this log is forward dated to the 25th). However, outside characters can only thread within this log, so for those seriously considering the game, you are welcome to use non-festival prompts for your toplevels. Anyone who apps in and is accepted will have their character count October as their first time in the game without any disruption, so all content will carry over. Those who do not apply will disappear which should not seem too unusual as people randomly disappear already, however players in game can choose to retcon and pretend a character was never there to begin with if it would be easier; or even think their presence was just a dream.

IMPORTANT! All outside characters MUST have "TDM" in their subject line, even if you might not app. This will help people differentiate those who are already in the game and those who are not.

TDM threads are required for samples. Refer to the Game Info for general information and feel free to toss any questions here. Reserves will open Tuesday, October 25th and Applications will open on November 1st. Our application cycles are bi-monthly so the next cycle after won't be until January.

TDM Toplevel Link Directory (click to view; updated 10/28)

American McGee's Alice - Alice Liddell
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Azula
BlazBlue - Noel Vermillion
Case Study of Vanitas - Vanitas
Dangan Ronpa - Chiaki Nanami
Devil May Cry - Lady
Final Fantasy VII - Cloud Strife
Genshin Impact - Albedo
Genshin Impact - Eula Lawrence
Genshin Impact - Kaeya
Genshin Impact - Razor
Great Ace Attorney - Ryunosuke Naruhodo
Helluva Boss - Blitzø
Helluva Boss - Octavia
Jujutsu Kaisen - Fushiguro Megumi
Kaze Hikaru - Okita Souji
Library of Ruina - Angela
Mikagura School Suite - Yuto Akama
My Hero Academia - Bakugo Katsuki
Octopath Traveler - Ophilia
Original Character - Kate Galloway (Jigoku CRAU)
Original Character - Marie Daenthelm
Original Character - Pauline Bonheur
Persona 3 - Ken Amada
Promare - Lio Fotia
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - Yuri Hyuga
Tales of Berseria - Magilou
Tales of Berseria - Rokurou Rangetsu
Tales of Berseria - Velvet Crowe
Tales of Hearts - Chalcedony Akerman
Tales of Hearts - Hisui Hearts (Aefenglom CRAU)
Tales of the Rays - Baldr
Touken Ranbu - Hizen Tadahiro
Touken Ranbu - Ichimonji Norimune
Transformers IDW - Soundwave
Your Wings and Mine - Shealtiel

I. CARNIVAL FUN

The moment a guest enters the carnival grounds, there is a high chance (read: optional) they will find themselves changed in some way to fit the spooky, haunted atmosphere. Instead of just wearing a vampire costume, the character will actually turn into one. Of course, how much of a transformation varies between complete to partial changes. It should be noted that this is only a cosmetic and ability change—no matter what someone changes into, they won't have any personality changes…unless one of the carnival attendants cast a small enchantment to make it so. Of course this is by chance as well (read: optional).

A. Haunted Food. While there is some standard fare carnival food around, the Haunted Carnival has some unique items with even more interesting effects:

Caramel Apples: Tart green apples dipped in caramel and decorated with chocolate to look like they’re covered in spiders and spider webs. Eating one of these will have the dreamer feeling crafty and industrious, just like spiders themselves often are. Also, the idea of eating bugs (or even other spiders?!) suddenly seems strangely appealing…
Cherry Blood Popcorn: Popcorn drenched in cherry syrup and decorated with candy bones. The combination of sugar and dreamotion energy leaves the eater feeling giddy and cheerful, somewhat in contrast to the gruesome appearance of the treat itself.
Funnel "Brain" Cakes: Funnel cakes colored to look like brains when served. Comes in regular or zombie brain varieties. Eating one makes you feel lethargic and hungry, like the only thing that matters is your next snack fix, but you’re not willing to do much more than shamble toward it.
Mummies in a Blanket: Small hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and decorated to look like mummies. After eating this, you may or may not want to wrap yourself into a blanket and take a nap—ideally somewhere dark and spooky.

B. FUN AND GAMES. Mixed in with the food vendors are several booths advertising a variety of carnival games, including but not limited to the ones below.. The prizes you win may or may not be cursed. Best of luck!

NERF Gun Shooting Gallery: Use dreamotion to shoot foam darts from a gun at various ghostly and ghouly targets lined up on a platform. Advanced players may want to try their hand at making the guns shoot other objects. Water? Fire? Glitter bombs? The only limit is one’s imagination.
Ring Toss: A series of witch hats are lined up, and the objective is to toss rings on the hats for points. Did something just peek up from under one of the hats? It’s probably nothing to worry about.
Potion Bottles: A variation of the milk bottles game wherein you throw balls to knock over flasks and beakers filled with strangely-colored liquid. In most cases, the spilled potion is totally harmless. Once in a while, however, it may have some interesting effects on the player and/or the booth itself.
Slime Pit: There’s a giant pit of slime with a sign next to it: prizes within for those willing to get a bit messy! Said prizes range from giant candy bars to random silly toys to skeletal limbs…? Oh that belongs to the skeleton having fun in the pit, they might want it back.

II. ATTRACTIONS

A. Hall of Mirrors. A classic maze of mirrors that are usually filled with special effects to make one's reflection look distorted. In the beginning the distortions are more humorous, making one look super skinny or extremely curvy. However, the deeper one goes, the reflections begin to look a bit…strange. The mirrors begin to reflect the "worst" side of an individual, but in a more embarrassing manner. When they first wake up in the morning, having a bad hair day, dressed poorly, being lazy on the couch—mostly benign things that would be embarrassing to show others. But there are some that may reveal one's darker self they wish to hide from others and are forced to face—especially when the reflections will step out and follow the original until the end of the maze. They won't do anything, just follow silently like a shadow, but even that may be taxing for anyone, especially if others see. The reflection must either be pushed back into an empty mirror, or it will disappear on its own when exiting the building.

B. Wild Carousel. The creatures on this carousel are not just colorful painted steeds but are more frightening in nature and looking more undead than living. Skeletal horses, direwolves, fanged deer with bloody horns. What makes this ride truly terrifying, however, is that the creatures are alive, restrained only by the pole stuck through them. But there are times when they manage to break free, causing havoc as they run through the park. The only good news is they don't attack, instead aiming for the carnival food as if hungry. Either hang on or help capture them back!

C. Cirque du Souleil. Near the center of the carnival is a large circus tent, and it boasts a variety of shows that are death defying, terrorific, and guaranteed to make everyone scream in fright and awe. The usual acts are available to see: acrobatics, musical performances, theatrical skits, and using ghostly steeds to ride through the large arena. But what makes this circus unique is that all the performers are capable of separating their soul from their physical body, similar to astral projecting or dreamwalking outside of dreams and being visible to all. And now they're asking for volunteer pairs to either participate in a more simple act such as an acrobatic stunt on the swings or tight rope…or eat a special candy that will allow them to have an out of body experience via dreamwalking outside. The only "flaw" is their dreamwalking form will tend to float up to the top of the tent, so their partner who hasn't eaten the candy has to tether them via dreamotion to get through some simple obstacles. No worries, the professionals will help return the soul if they get lost.

D. Spinning Bumper Cups. A combination of the classic bumper cars and spinning cups rides, this attraction has its riders in skull shaped bumper cars that will randomly spin. Riders have the ability to fire off "pumpkin bombs" at the others, which will splatter pumpkin goop to slow down their car. It will also make the car spin for a few rotations. Dreamotion will also help boost the speed, stabilize a spinning car faster, and make the pumpkin bombs more explosive. Just be careful—the barrier around the arena is made of bones and therefore quite brittle. It's not unusual to see a car spin out and lose control driving through the carnival grounds. Stop the runaway car and bring it back! Or shoot people with pumpkin bombs.

E. Ferris Wheel. Ah, the ferris wheel, a gentle ride that elevates one high in the air to allow them to see the sights below, in this case the entire carnival grounds and the surrounding areas like the bordering forests, the Observatory, and the edge of Reverein. However, as with everything in this carnival, the ride is not always so gentle. There are times when the entire ride accelerates to a faster pace, causing the (fortunately) enclosed cabins to rock dangerously as it rotates around. There are times when it keeps going, not letting anyone off until three rotations. And then there are times when the top half of the cabin disappears, exposing the riders to the cooler winds. Fortunately handle bars will appear they can hold onto, but no seat belts. Enjoy the view?

F. Other Rides. There are plenty of rides and attractions at the carnival, too many to list all of them here. A roller coaster, tower drop, gravitron, bungee jumps, pendulum ship—whatever one might think exists, it's there in all its twisted nightmare glory. One thing they all have in common is the more fear and thrill and screams generated, the faster they go. Just hope the ride doesn't stall and get stuck…

III. HAUNTING CLUES

Although the main purpose for these prompts is to find the clues, anyone is free to use them for general use and not focus on getting the clue. For those who do participate, we'll be asking for thread during our Activity Check! Those who are TDMing regardless of application can also have their threads counted by commenting to this thread and following the directions.

#1. Haunted Dollhouse. There is a special building called the Haunted Dollhouse. It's similar to a haunted house, however this attraction is filled with moving porcelain dolls that will try to scare and chase those who enter (it's quite likely some members of the newly added Porcelain Town have volunteered to help). Sometimes, those who enter are cursed into a doll and are now vulnerable. They are also not always able to move on their own will. This is not great as sometimes the dolls kind of…malfunction and will actually become aggressive. The weapons they wield are also not props, so that's a problem. However, they are small and can only inflict minor wounds and can be easily taken out.

The main clue here is "Villains!' I shrieked. 'Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!" To help both those who have turned into dolls as well as get the clue, everyone has to find the right place where some candied hearts are hidden. Fortunately the "blood trail" (it's raspberry syrup) will help lead them to the right place.

#2. Abandoned House. A little away from the main attractions there is a run down house surrounded by trees…and a lot of ravens. A raven with red eyes will guide those who dare or wish to face a lost loved one to the house. Inside it's just filled with faceless busts and empty paintings, but soon they are filled with the images of those lost ones. It could be a person, pet, thing, but they are there, just staring. Only the eyes and mouths move, and what the person hears are their insecurities and fears related to how they lost whatever they see. Anyone else will either see the original blanks or their own personalized images.

The main clue is "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting // On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door // Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning // Shall be lifted – nevermore". To get out of this house, they have to first look for the bust that has the red eyed raven on it. This will be tricky as there will be many ravens with different colored eyes. Once they do, there will be a small picture frame. They must manifest one or more of the images they are seeing and capture it into the frame. This is simply done by waving it like a net, but the manifestation can move around. This can be as easy or difficult as a player wants, and how affected the character is from what they see and hear can also be a factor. The more affected they are, the easier it is to manifest but difficult to capture. The less affected, it will be more difficult to manifest as they have to tap into that raw fear, but will be easier to capture.

#3. Hay Bale Maze. Just outside of the circus tent is a large hay bale maze with the hay…looking as if it's seen much better days. It's filled with spooks that like to jump scare maze goers or bodiless limbs that reach out to grab, but aside from that it's harmless. Except for one particular figure.

The main clue is "Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him --"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him --that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!" There is a red clad figure wearing a skull mask. He will randomly bust through the hay walls and engage maze goers into a fight. Those who are incapable will flee in terror while the figure will chase, which will be a pretty good clue as to where he is. Once engaged, any weapon and dreamotion can be used at their disposal and the challenge is to just simply best him in a fight (not to the death). Striking the figure even once will earn a victory and the skull mask will be granted.

#4. Musical Catacombs. For a bit more lighthearted fun, there is an underground catacombs that is filled with tombs. Some of them have actual skeletons and ghosts sleeping in them, but they won't harm anyone if bothered. Just be a bit cranky, maybe throw a bone. At someone's head. Down here it's quite lively, filled with music, dancing, and a lot of alcohol. Minors will only get sparkling juice.

The main clue is "'Ha! ha! ha! — he! he! he! — a very good joke, indeed — an excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo — he! he! he! — over our wine — he! he! he!' // 'The Amontillado!' I said." One of the games is a dancing game where the tombs will light up a certain color and participants have to properly hit the correct corresponding floor panel (basically a music rhythm/DDR themed game). Should they make a perfect score, one of the tombs will open and have a crusty wine bottle in it. It has competitor and co-op mode.

Comments

[creationary]

[ Is one ever ready to go drinking with the Calvary Captain? He has a reputation for a reason, one that reached even Albedo's ears, for how out of the loop he is on Mondstadt gossip.

But he's a man of his word, so with a reserved smile, Albedo nods. ]

Lead the way.

[ Time to be Kaeya's DD, for the first and surely not the last time... ]

[flamekthunder]

...Doing the same one would be the wiser choice.

[Going to hit REPLAY and the music starts to kick up again.]

Just do your best.

[He honestly won't fault Rob... He's a bit more focused on his own personal score. ...Though he would like them to score higher than a B, which means if he can get a higher score maybe he can carry them a little higher?? Maybe?? Well whatever IT'S GO TIME.

And there may be a little bit of crackling of electricity around Eustace as he becomes more determined and focused on this.]

[creationary]

[ He makes a mental note to keep an eye out for a Harbinger; they're not known for being particularly subtle individuals, so no doubt they'll encounter one another soon enough. If nothing else, Albedo is curious to see if the stories live up to kind of person Tartaglia actually is.

He dismisses the thought a moment later, however, when Aether drops that particular bit of knowledge. ]

Two months? But...were you not just in Mondstadt for Weinlesefest?

[ That was far more recent than two months ago. ]

[strawberryredgrave]

Dante's eye twitched when dealing with just one of them; the muffled moans were almost right in his ear and the doppelganger very clearly wanted more. Dante's bad luck saw fit to make things worse, as Stolas' hurried exit left four horny bird duplicates eyeing the man, not to mention a few reflections of his own joining the fray. The hunter can only shake his head and sigh, cracking his knuckles in preparation for what he had to do before he could leave.

Stolas is left waiting outside the hall of mirrors for some time before Dante joins him outside. He refrains from as much violence as possible; it'd be awkward hurting any Stolas and even more awkward to get frisky with them. They clearly wanted him and Dante's own reflections either laughed or egged it on. One Dante saw the scene and immediately walked back into the mirror. Smart man.

When Stolas sees his bodyguard next, the man is certainly in a state. Feathers stick to every other part of his outfit, the telltale marks of love nips from beaks are found along his neck, a conspicuously white substance staining his coat...not to mention a smell like the center of an orgy.

"...A few more body doubles popped out. Didn't think you'd want them running around."

They're at least returned to where they came from. The cost? Dante learned of new ways to combine barbecue sauce, a spoon and a deck of cards that he never wanted to know.

[whatsthehurry]

[ that sweet scent is enticing indeed, but it's not entirely what his nose is after. ]

Indeed!

[ kaeya is an amicable fellow most of the time as it stands, but his face veritably lights up at the sight of those stalls, all lined up in a row for him! he sighs indulgently, striding forward to the nearest kiosk so he can better examine the wine behind the pop-up bar. ]

Do you drink, my friend? What'll you have?

[whatsthehurry]

[ asking kaeya not to be coy is like asking him not to breathe.. but he's gonna do his best, because this boy seems like a good bean, and while kaeya is an asshole, he's only like, 50% asshole. behind the veil he can sometimes even be downright decent.

"Excellent. It's good to meet you. Would you like to play a game?" ]

[whatsthehurry]

Well, I'll just have to take your word for it then, won't I? I'll do my very best to be more heroic.

[ he can't disappoint the kid!! ]

[whatsthehurry]

[ yeah sure whatever you say, dream aether!! ]

Months, is it? Despite the fact that I had dinner with you, oh, two days ago?

[ and it was a very nice dinner, all things considered, in spite of he and diluc's bickering. ]

[whatsthehurry]

[ at that, kaeya barks an easy laugh. he likes her spirit!

.. despite the fact that her mirror reflection was absolutely deranged. he has poor taste. ]

Oh, the pleasure was all mine, my dear.

[ he sweeps forward into an elegant, but over-the-top bow. ]

Now if you'll excuse me, I believe the wine kiosk is calling my name.

[refire]

If I use magic it shows up. It's a little strange like that but yeah it's visible. You can see it now.

[Alphen uses his fire dreamotion ability again and his right eye shines with a symbol of the Sovereign.]

A normal person couldn't do these things.

[noctuagoetia]

Stolas hadn't even noticed that the demon hunter wasn't behind him when he fled that house of horrors. All he could think about was getting out of there as fast as he could. Though after a moment of him standing outside to breathe in the fresh air, he did find the silence odd. Turning to see that he had emerged alone. But he wouldn't be for long. Just when Stolas thought he couldn't be any more mortified, Dante appeared from the building looking like he just had visited the Lust Ring. Those.... those marks. There was no denying that they were created by his own bill. He had left similar ones on a certain someone many times, though they looked more impressive on that red and white scarred skin.

"O-oh my... Dante, are you alright?" Stolas hurried over to him to pluck the feathers out of his hair. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't realized more of my doppels escaped. I.. I appreciate you taking care of them. I should have...."

His words trailed off awkwardly.

"Please don't tell anyone about this..."

[strawberryredgrave]

He could use the help removing the feathers. At this point, he's not even sure where they all are. Despite looking a bit uncomfortable himself, he nods. "No one's gonna know. Might need a new costume to keep it that way, but you leave that up to me. I'll give you one thing, though."

Dante smirks, trying to ease Stolas' concerns by making light of the subject.

"I would not look half as good in any of those outfits."

[noctuagoetia]

White noise hissed in his ears as color flooded his face. Oh no, he wasn't there to see what other attire he decided to dawn for his monthly moonlit rendezvous. You know what, he didn't want to know which ones he saw. It didn't matter. They were all various degrees of whore. Pushing his embarrassment down, Stolas lets out a stunted chuckle.

"Certainly not. You don't have the legs." Plucking another feather free from a hard to reach spot, the owl sighed, nodding his head. "Speaking of... I agree that a costume change might be in order. You look awful."

[whatsthehurry]

[ time for another montage!!

kaeya, albedo will find, is indeed everything the rumors make him out to be, when it comes to drinking. the man loves his wine. he also loves his parties. this carnival is glad to supply both! he insists that albedo have one glass of wine, as per their agreement, and kaeya attempts to wheedle him into more, but to no avail. albedo won't be swayed, and kaeya knows when not to push. still, they have a good time! at least, kaeya thinks they do.

by the time the carnival is beginning to clear out, he's quite drunk, quick to laugh and nudge albedo with his elbow, ruffle his hair affectionately, as if they are now absolute best friends. which they are. when you drink with someone, it brings you closer together! right?

but soon enough the kiosks are closing up, and together they walk back toward the town, kaeya a little unsteady on his feet, though he drank an exorbitant amount - the fact that he's still standing at all is testament to his constitution. ]

And then — hehe — and then, he fell face first right into the mud..

[ yes, he's talking about diluc. ]

[startraveler]

[He tilts his head.]

You did?

[That's not something he remembers.]

Time works in a strange ways here. The last thing I remember was Inazuma opening its boarders for everyone. I was also going to head to Sumeru... eventually.

[He hasn't been back in Mondstadt for a while.]

[lonelysmiles]

"That it is! And the song might not be to my tastes, but it was rather enjoyable."

His ears pricked as the sound of stone scraping against stone reached them. He turned his head to see part of the wall openng up.

"Hello! What have we here?"

[lonelysmiles]

Could very well be! [He grins as he leans in.] Though a competition implies a prize or at least a wager. What do you want to lose?

loool everything's better with costumes!

[bulletic]

Nice to meet you, Mr. Childe! [ She bows again, and with that she's ready to follow him outside the festival. She looks over to the workers, wondering they'd really be against it. ] Oh, do you think they'll mind?

[ Noel approaches the gate, only to have her way blocked by one of the members of the staff. Just like Childe said, he's not really trying to force her back, but he's not letting her through, either. ]

Um, excuse me... The festival is really amazing, but we were wondering if we could leave now...

[ Her plea falls on deaf ears, so she glances back at her companion for help. ]

[lonelysmiles]

Electro swing, my dear! The revival of arguably the most popular subgenre of jazz!

[And starting to add a little spice to his steps. It's starting to look and sound like he's tap dancing along.]

[sos_pilot]

[ She has to think about this. She's never cared about money, so that's off the table. Her dignity's the only thing that has anything resembling a price tag, and even then she knows she doesn't have too much of it.

So, she just goes for the gross angle. ]

... I'll lick a fish.

[lonelysmiles]

It'll have to be a real lick: gills to tail. No simply pressing your tongue to it for a split second.

[whatsamada]

Then I'm guessing you weren't back home? Why do you have that cape on?

[He raised an eyebrow. Was he someone important or...?]

[stillarhino]

[The mirrors return back to the wacky reflections as they begin walking, whatever was going on earlier leaving the both of them be. At least for the timebeing.]

Ain't see you 'round before. Name's Beat, yarr.

[...Why the hell did he just say that? He shakes his head in confusion, not wanting to bring attention to what just happened.]

[stillarhino]

[Seeing the bomb connect and the goo explode, Beat lets out a loud whoop, punch the air with one fist in celebration.]

Booya! Now tha's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Sorry, yo. But it ain't my problem you's bad at dodgin' my shots.

[bulletic]

Just because it's a dream doesn't make it any less real! At least, I think so...

[ This might come across as some big "just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right" energy, but it's not as though she doesn't have solid reasons to believe that, considering her own world is technically her dream to begin with. ]

Thank you! I really appreciate that, but please don't feel obligated to support me on behalf of your friend. It wouldn't be fair of me to take advantage of your kindness like that...