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

a. all aboard!

[ ...This isn't a train. He remembers stepping foot onto a train! And then he blinked. His head is on a swivel as he looks around at his surroundings. A... place with bright lights and weird attractions? Yeah, he's pretty sure this wasn't the destination that they had in mind for their next mission. Maybe if he asks Tanjiro-- ]

...

T-Tanjiro? Inosuke?

[ Ah, shoot. He's alone, and he has no sword. And what's this weird thing on his wrist? He tries tugging at it. ]

--It won't come off? Why won't it come off!?

b. you're in for a bumpy ride!

[ If anyone is in the nearby vicinity, you may suddenly hear a very loud, shrill scream coming from the bumper car area.

Yeah... Zenitsus strapped into one, clinging on to the steering wheel for dear life as he becomes a human ping pong ball. ]

WAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAAH, WHY DID I GET ON THIS AGAIN I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THIS THING SOMEONE HELP-

[ He's fine! It's fine. Probably. ]

c. it's all fun and games...

[ After his bout with the bumper cars, the demon slayer can be found around Prize Alley, playing some of the smaller games now! He's especially paying some attention to skeeball! You can't go wrong with skeeball. After a moment, he'll spot you! ]

Oh- d-do you want to play...?

d. wildcard

[ Have something else in mind? Feel free to drop hit up Zenitsu! You can also reach me at spooksville on plurk if you'd like to plot something out!!! ]

( mafuyu glances at the boy- he looks to be her age, dressed rather... old fashioned, in a way that makes him stick out from everyone else even more. his hair is blonde, which isn't necessarily impossible for a boy of japanese descent, but it's definitely unusual. and he's very clearly trying to keep it together.

on some level, she can understand that much. mafuyu smiles softly. )

It's multiplayer. Have you played before?

[ CUTE GIRL... he stares for a moment before his brain registers the words she's speaking. Shaking his head and blinking, Zenitsu looks at the ball in his hand. okay, pull! yourself! together! ]

N-not really. But uh, it's about aiming, right? For the target. At least that's what I figured.

Yes, but also it's less about throwing the balls at the points and more about being able to roll them up the ramp. That's what makes it fun.

( and with that, she demonstrates! )

O-Oh, I see!

[ Zenitsu watches and copies the motions pretty well, rolling the ball up the ramp! The ball doesn't make it into the center hole, but it's certainly a try. ]

Like that, right?

That's right! And as you play more, you'll learn how to aim better- or how much force is best to use. The holes are labeled by how many points they give you, based on how challenging it is to throw the ball into them.

( it's almost nice, being able to focus on a simple game instead of the situation around them. and as he learns to play the game, he'll be able to earn tickets for tokens... meaning survival, for whatever that's worth here.

it's likely that zenitsu can hear that she's faking everything- but given the situation, is it really so surprising? )

R-Right!

[ With a renewed confidence, however slight, Zenitsu runs another ball up the ramp. Well, one thing is for sure- his heart rate monitor is going to get some very good ratings from him, all without even boarding many of the rides!

And… he does hear Mafuyu’s tones, her sound… It does sound fake, hollow, almost… But he’s thinking against bringing it up to her yet.

For now, it sounds like they both need a simple game of skeeball, no strings attached. ]

Ah- I’m Zenitsu, by the way! It’s nice to meet you!

[ He does a polite bow. ]

( and it is returned! )

Mafuyu Asahina. I wish it was in better circumstances, but it's nice to meet you too.

( that, at least, is sincere. idly, she glances back up to the game and smiles. )

You caught on quickly, even for this game. Well done!

[Oh this guy has hella anxiety. It reminds Noah of when Noah was little, all anxious and screamy all the time... sigh, he's so cool now. Or that's what he thinks, anyway.

He walks over to Zenitsu and holds his own wrist up, with the embedded ~~fitbit~~ device on display.]

Mine won't come off either. It's kinda cool, if a bit freaky. It shows the time and stuff, and you can type on it. It reminds me of Nasod tech.

--Ah! ...Eh?

[ Zenitsu jumps with a start when Noah arrives, seemingly caught off-guard due to how in his own head he was. ]

D-Don't sneak up on me like that!

[ Noah didn't sneak up on him- Zenitsu's just very jumpy. He carefully looks at his wrist monitor before looking back up at the others'.

I'm sorry, Noah, this guys from the Taisho Era and also uses birds to send letters. He's not gonna know anything about fancy robot gear. ]

Type? Like a typewriter? What's a Nasod?

I didn't sneak up on you. I walked up to you from the front.

[Bruh.]

Type, like... here. [Noah holds his wrist out again, this time letting the embedded device face skywards, and then brings up the network and shows the keyboard. He's not intimately familiar with typing, really, but he's spent enough time around Some Fucking Nerd back home that he kind of gets the gist of it. Whatever he presses, though, isn't sent. Thank god.] It's like writing but electronic! My friend back home would lose his mind over this.

[Add when Noah gets back like: What do you mean you had a whole computer embedded in your wrist hello]

Nasods are these neat, fancy robots! I don't know much about them, 'cause my mentor was more into magitech which is a different school entirely, but one of the girls I know is a Nasod. She's pretty cool. [Eve has no emotions but that's okay she's still cool.]

…Oh.

[ Zenitsu watches as Noah fiddles with the device curiously. These screens are so cool??? What the heck. With a shaky hand, the demon slayer tries his own hand (haha) at messing with the keyboard on his device! ]

“Electronic?” Huh… I’ve… never seen something like this before.

[ Zenitsu looks up at Noah again before he speaks. That still… doesn’t really explain what a Nasod is to him. ]

Robots? Magitech? Are they like automatons?

[ He doesn’t know these words but he’s trying his best, help him. ]

Hmm... magitech is more like, as Clamor wanted it to be, things that can help everyday people make tasks easier. Like a teapot that always keeps your tea warm, or a pillow that's always the right temperature on one side so that you're comfortable sleeping.

Robots are kind of like... [Ugh, where's Add when you need him?] ...yeah, automatons, made of metal. Nasods are sentient automatons, I guess?

[ She blinks, a touch surprised by the sudden offer. It's not that she minds, but... ]

I'm not very good at games...

[ She answers in a quiet voice. She wouldn't be a very fun person to play with, she thinks. ]

H-Ha, me neither. But we can always try!

[ That’s what Gramps says, at least! He extends a hand with a ball over to her to take. ]

Here.

TDM 01

Zenitsu Agatsuma | Demon Slayer

c.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

A!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

c

no subject