TDM 01

[ride_technicians]

↞NAVIGATION

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.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[ride_technicians]

 

[whatsmytalentagain]

Is it alright to take a character from a post-death canonpoint?

[ride_technicians]

Yes, absolutely! There are no restrictions on what point in canon a character can come from; if they died before arriving, they will remember dying and then “wake up” inside the park the same way as everyone else.

[observing]

hello! i wanted to double check the use of powers on the tdm, are they allowed if they're not game breaking or should we water them down or is there no powers at all! c:

[ride_technicians]

Powers will be allowed for the duration of the TDM, with the caveat that they feel weaker than usual and continue to diminish in strength the longer the character remains conscious.

[starsmoothie]

what kind of goldfish

comets? orandas? pearlscales? if you say bubble eyes I'm coming for your life. blackmoors? those are acceptable.

[ride_technicians]

Comets, black moors, ranchus, orandas, fantails, butterfly and panda telescopes. There’s a variety. No bubble eyes can be seen for the moment.

[starsmoothie]

FUCK yeah thanks chief

[beathollow]

If Mafuyu shines a light into the water in It's Quite The Large World, can she tell how deep it is? Will she see anything?

... Also because it's relevant to the thread possibly, if someone were to try and get out of the boat in the same ride to get to the maintenance walkways or other things, what would happen.

[ride_technicians]

The water is roughly five feet deep, just enough to allow the gondolas to comfortably float along the track without scraping the bottom. The depth doesn’t change after the halfway point is reached and the ride goes dark, but if Mafuyu shines her light down into the water she may sometimes be able to catch glimpses of grimy, dirty hands pulling back from the sides of the boat to slide back down into the dark in order to hide from view. These hands don’t cause ripples as they move, and it’s unclear if they are truly there or merely just a figment of her imagination.

Leaving the gondola before the sanctioned time to disembark causes the ride to jolt to an abrupt stop. It does not seem like there are any maintenance walkways to be found, and attempting to leave the current room to manually walk to the next will cause the area to loop ad infinitum. Reboarding the gondola will cause the ride to continue, and it can be gleaned that the only way to make any sort of progression is to wait it out.

[beathollow]

WELL

THAT'S FUCKED. I LOVE IT (sincere)

For future reference and the sake of anyone who wants to try it in the other dark ride, will this occur in Garfield's Nightmare too or will something different happen!

[speedingbulletin]

Let's say some idiot takes a little of the dark drippy liquid that the "GRAND REOPENING" sign is written in and smears it on his finger. What does it smell like? Taste like?? Yes he will lick it unless it physically burns him or something.

[ride_technicians]

It’s slick yet viscous, sort of like the texture of motor oil but thicker. The smell is almost sickeningly sweet in a “this is probably rancid” kind of way, and should that not deter a taste test it has a sharp flavor that makes the tongue tingle like many barbs had dug into it. Tasting it will also make him experience the worst bought of vertigo, and he may need to sit down for a minute or two.

[speedingbulletin]

Perfect, this is about how I was expecting it would turn out. Thank you!

[beathollow]

hi boo i'm back again, do characters have any strange memories before they get here? like hearing a voice maybe or something like that? or is it "well this is a nice and dandy canonpoint- wait where the fuck am i"?

[ride_technicians]

It basically is just from one moment they recall their canon point and then the next they are in the Park Gates. Sort of as if they closed their eyes to blink and opened them to the park, went to sleep and woke up here, died and then were suddenly alive, etc etc.

[octaplicitous]

so this is a bit of a weird question but my character is an octopus merman who is kept human through a magic potion, and I was wondering if it is possible that as his canon powers get weaker if he could turn back into a merman over time (asking because I want this to happen). Since he's part octopus he'll still be able to move around the amusement park (though a bit slowly) even if he doesn't have access to water.

[ride_technicians]

That’s incredible, yes you can absolutely do this. Should he also end up finding his way to the lake he will discover that he can only dive down roughly ten feet before all visibility drops to nothing but darkness, and the water will begin to burn the skin as if it is highly acidic. Likewise, the other optional water sources for him to peruse at your discretion would be the seal shaped fountain in prize alley

[octaplicitous]

Excellent, thank you! He will explore that after he gets done sulking (he likes having feet).

[familyproblem]

So does the establishment have any strong opinions about, like, property damage

[ride_technicians]

By all means go ham on the destruction, but you’ll have to deal with the consequences being that all the Masks in the near vicinity will sadly trudge over to try and fix things

[beathollow]

did you miss me? anyways mafuyu and kanade wanna investigate the first aid station is there anything we should know or can they even get in at all or what

[ride_technicians]

The doors do open and it is fully accessible, although it doesn’t seem like anyone is currently manning it at this moment in time. It’s a single-roomed building, with a shelving system on the right wall containing bandaids, bandages, and various types of disinfectants. There are also a few rows full of different types of pain killers and pill bottles, though these are locked away behind a sheet of tempered glass.

There is a single gurney in the center of the room, a bare desk on the left, and the far wall has several metal drawer cubby holes big enough to hide a body inside when opened. Essentially, this looks a lot more like a mini morgue than it does a first aid station, which has some concerning implications.

[beathollow]

will they find power outlets in there?

[songsearching]

Coming in here since I have a few follow up questions as well!

Do any of the items have any expiration dates on them at all?

Also is there anything in the gurney?

And are the cubbies empty?