amuze | TDM 01

WE DON'T

A quiet beep and a series of mechanical clicks draw you to consciousness once more, regardless of how you found yourself on the other side of dark weightlessness. You open your eyes to find yourself standing within the gates of a seemingly rundown amusement park, the forward motion of your feet suggesting you had just stepped through the turnstile directly behind you. A look backward also reveals a row of faceless, inky shadow figures, all seemingly waiting for you to move out of the way and allow them to enter after you.

Another beep, and should you choose to investigate, you will notice a small screened device embedded within the flesh of your left wrist (or elsewhere should that be impossible) The screen itself is dark with static aside from a bright red heart monitor that moves about in the top right corner. It's locked on that glitching, garbled visage, and doesn't respond to any taps or shakes of the wrist.

Floodlights click on from high above, providing a new source of lighting outside of the fiery sunset sky and revealing that this park may not have been as rundown and abandoned as it had first seemed. Off key music blares from somewhere unseen, loud enough to cause discomfort but not severe enough to rattle the teeth from your skull. Previously motionless figures suddenly begin to move, articulating and bending in uncanny ways as they wave and beckon you in towards the park. Their porcelain masks plaster on a cheerful demeanor despite the cracked and dirty state of the masks they wear. Stretched out across the promenade is a clearly handmade sign, the once-white cloth dirtied with years of dirt and grime. Even so, the words GRAND REOPENING! are a clear and stark contrast, painted in some dark liquid that oozes and drips onto the cobblestone below. Streamers and string lights drape haphazardly across the buildings and over the walkway, accompanied by several dozen sad balloons that seem to have lost the majority of their helium long ago.

In the distance looms the dark foreboding shape of a massive Ferris Wheel, standing motionless like a silent sentinel keeping watch over its dominion.

One of the masked dancing figures ripples its way towards you, shoving a pamphlet towards you with a hand that doesn't seem to possess any proper joints for the fingers to move the way they do. This close it's easier to spot that the dark void behind the eye holes seems to go on far too deep, and it isn't an illogical leap from there to come to the conclusion that perhaps there is nothing within this costume to pilot its movements. It moves and sways to the whims of unseen strings, playing the part of a puppet to another's command.

The offered pamphlet appears to be a map of the park's grounds, and whether or not you decide to take it the being soon thereafter slowly retreats back to its starting position. As it reaches its spot, the limbs of its body go slack and it slumps forward slightly, seemingly lifeless. A rippling wave of inactivity seems to roll through the other gathered figures, and one by one they all enter a state of identical deactivation. The music abruptly cuts off. The lighting from above flickers away with a loud electric hum, leaving only the light of the setting sun to guide you. Somewhere behind you, a shadowy figure slowly morphs to take on the form of the next park guest, and the whole routine will repeat itself in an endless loop the moment they gain consciousness the same way you yourself did.

Welcome to AMUZE ★ MENT AVENUE! The park is now yours to explore to your heart's content.

MAKE

The Ferris Wheel at the center of the park continues to play the part of a stone monolith, serving as a landmark to help you orient yourself as you wander the grounds. More of those masked beings seem to be everywhere you look, in various states of animation; some are sweeping the cobblestone walkways, while others seem to be in charge of concessions stands and game stalls that you pass along the way.

And on the subject of game stalls and food stands... You seem to have wandered into the area containing a surplus of both. A big aluminum sign hangs high above your head, spelling out the words PRIZE ALLEY! A central courtyard stands before you, containing a stone fountain depicting what appears to be a seal as it sprays muddy water out of the tip of its snout. The music has returned to this area, though it seems less bent on being overpowering and more content with being the soundtrack to your adventures.

Game stalls litter the area, all begging for you to give them a shot. The one closest to you in particular seems to draw the eye in a way you can't quite understand, and closer examination reveals that the goal of this one seems to be to break a stack of plates with the bucket of baseballs on the stall counter. Another masked figure stands at attention at this stall, waving at you as you approach and motioning to the row of bagged goldfish that sits along the countertop. They all seem to be in excellent condition, and should you find that you cannot resist the urge to try to win yourself a new pet, you may discover that the plates shatter to pieces regardless of the skill behind your aim.

Congratulations!

Winning your new scaled companion doesn't seem to be without its drawbacks, however, as the masked figure promptly reaches behind the counter and hefts a huge ten gallon tank up and onto the surface in front of you, thunking it down with enough force to slosh around the water inside it.

You didn't think you were going to keep that fish in a tiny little bowl, did you? Of course not. You were entirely aware of how inhumane such living conditions are, after all. Please enjoy lugging this aquarium about with you for the remainder of your stay; it's even fully cycled and equipped with an automatic filtration system, courtesy of The Entity.

DREAMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The sun hasn't seemed to move at all in the time you've spent here, giving you no indication of just how long you've loitered. Ancient looking animals lope about the carousel before you, and beyond that stands the tall shape of a large multicolored tent.

A sign above the open entrance flaps reads CIRQUE ILLUME, the painted-on C a glaring contrast to the rest of the letters, which are carved in wood and bolted on. The flaps of the tent itself are open, though it doesn't appear like anyone is inside. Rows of bleachers line the inside of the tent, facing and surrounding a central raised platform that seems to be the main stage area. Above your head, trapeze bars hang lifelessly, suspended by ropes and scaffoldings that don't quite seem capable of supporting any weight.

The main stage is vacant of any furnishings, and the overhead spotlights are dark and shuttered. You get the distinct feeling that you shouldn't be snooping about in here, though whether that deters you from doing just that is entirely up to your discretion.

ooc

Feel free to have your character wander about the various park attractions as you see fit! Everywhere listed on the locations page is currently available, with the only exception being the Hi-RiZe, which is undergoing maintenance for the duration of this TDM.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( well. this feels like an absolutely awful idea, and mafuyu really isn't impressed but why the fuck not, she supposes. walking down the aisles, she looks around slowly before smiling a little. )

I suppose. I've never seen this sort of fortune telling before.

You're in luck!

[This is how Noah sells his schtick back home: by being overly-ditzy and a little too fun at times. Actually, if you leave him alone, he can be sort of quiet, so don't let this fool you.]

Fortune-telling is the thing I'm good at. You'll have to tell me what you're interested in, though — do you struggle with love? Finances? Are you looking to find out about your career? Tarot only works if you have a question in mind.

[He is assuming she's talking about the cards, anyway.]

Mmm... Academics and career, maybe?

( don't ask her to pick things. she'll only focus on what everyone else wants of her. )

I'm still a student, of course, but it's good to think about the future.

You're a student? Me too! —I was, anyway. It's a long story.

[Let's just call it "graduating" and move on. Really it was Noah going "I've learnt all I need to know," and walking out of Seven Tower only to remember that he's still broke, but that's, again, a long story. A story for not-now.]

If you don't mind my asking, [he shuffles his deck with the intent to actually use it this time, not just repeatedly shift the cards about out of habit,] what do you do? Both for academics and career.

[~~This tag is a convenient excuse for Wolfie to not read tarot at 3am.~~]

Mm. Sounds like the graduation process was complicated.

( or maybe he just... had to move? and wasn't able to resume things yet. that happens sometimes. still, mafuyu smiles pleasantly. )

Right now I'm still a high school student, so my education is more generalized but I've been offered specialty resources for what I want to do. I'm hoping to go to medical school and become a doctor.

Heh. You could say that.

[High school student, meet college student. Noah has no such aspirations to become a doctor, though. That sounds like triple the amount of studying he did.

Noah sets the deck down on his coat, focusing his intent on a short success reading, and then draws the top card. It's the Seven of Pentacles, upright.]

—oh! Cool. Okay, so, I did a success reading for your career and schooling, since they would go hand-in-hand. Basically, the Seven of Pentacles indicates that you're a hard-worker and that your hard work is gonna pay off eventually. When that'll be, I can't say. This is a good omen type of card, though — it signifies the manifestation of your goals.

So, I think... if you want to become a doctor, and go to a specific school for that, all you have to do is keep working hard and you'll get there easily. That's what Fate says, anyway.

( mafuyu smiles and nods, almost laughing a little. )

It looks like I'm on the right track, then! Aside from this... strange detour. It almost feels like a dream, doesn't it?

( a mysterious carnival manned by beautiful venitian masked shadows... except in the most terrifying way, with the worst takes on standard rides. more like a nightmare, really. )

Thank you.

Huh? Oh, uh, you're welcome.

[Usually he'd ask for thanks in the form of money. A man's gotta make a living somehow, but... he has a feeling that his type of money isn't being used here. When he'd passed by the food earlier, it all required tokens.

He doesn't have any tokens. He imagines she doesn't either.]

Tell all your friends about me~! The great fortuneteller Noah Ebalon!

[Please, we are begging you to drop the fortune-teller persona.]

Mmhm. I'm sure they'd have fun with it.

( mizuki would be annoying, but in a good way. asking all sorts of questions, talking and gossiping- they'd want to try it too, and probably get along with this boy like tea and honey. ena... ena would probably get huffy about 'fate' and then try anyways. get mad if the outcome isn't favorable. she's cute and bossy and rude like that.

kanade would ask so many questions for her music. she'd want the reassurance that she could save someone.

mafuyu's smile softens a little. )

Ah... but should you really be doing this here? This tent has a strange atmosphere to it.

I got the same feeling from it, but... it's private, you know? People don't like their fortunes to be aired publicly. Imagine asking something really personal, and the person in the queue behind you now knows about it. It's... kind of not fair.

So, this is the best place to do it, even if it's sort of creepy.

Oh... I hadn't thought of that. But that's kind of you.

( she looks around the circus once more. it is rather private, hm. though, she hasn't seen many people here...

fortune telling, hm? she's drawn her fortune at shrines for festivals, of course, but never put much stock into it. )

... What made you want to be a fortune teller?

Ah... it's kind of a long story. Like, a really long story. I guess most of it goes back to wanting to carve out my own future for me and a close friend, but... that's just barely scratching the surface.

You got an hour?

I think we've got quite a lot of time on our hands.

( it's not like they have a designated announcement for anything, after all. this isn't a murder game, so the mastermind will not be giving them all a rundown any time soon. )

Lets at least have a seat, if you really think it'll be that long.

[Noah is sitting, in fact, on his jacket, but he thinks that maybe sitting in the middle of the cirque tent's dirty-ass floor is probably not appropriate for A Lady or something. Therefore, he packs his stuff up and stands, shakes his coat out, and throws it on his shoulders.

How it stays on is a mystery. Regardless, Noah makes his way to some seats within the tent proper, clearly meant for an audience of more than two to hang out in.]

Good enough? Or did you want to leave and get food first? [Food... is important, probably.]

( ... ostentatious. but sure, okay, he can do that. at the prospect of food she balks a little, shaking her head. )

I've tested the concessions with another person. ... It's a lot of junk food, I don't think it's really all that good. Here's fine, unless you haven't eaten yet- I've gotten some tokens to pay for it.

TDM 01

★ Wheel of Fortune

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SOMEHOW DREAMWIDTH DIDN'T SEND ME THIS LMFAO???

I FEEL LIKE DREAMWIDTH ATE ONE OF NENE'S TAG NOTIFS FOR U TOO... DW PLEASE

WAIT DID IT? WHICH ONE

NETWORKE

oh no that one is still in my inbox it's just liberator muse died so i havent gotten to respond

ahh. yes, the children are dying. u_u

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