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✖ THE CARNIVAL

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL & THE TEMPLE
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
You can see the lights of the Ferris wheel from the water, and by the time you pull into port you can smell popcorn, cotton candy, grease, sawdust. Music drifts on the air, interspersed with screams from the rides.

The carnival is in town.

Not just any carnival, either - the carnival. The one to end all others. Every circus you ever read about or saw in a movie, with striped tents filled with acrobats and sideshows, midway games complete with carnival barkers in straw boater hats. But it's also every shitty fair that ever rolled through your hometown, with unreliable looking men with greasy mullets smoking as they jockey the Wild Mouse, the Gravitron, the Zipper, the Corkscrew. There's a constant stream of 80s hair metal playing underneath the roar of the rollercoaster tracks, blending somehow with the traditional piping organ of the carousel.

Experienced Travelers will know by now that every island has its own temple, and this one is no exception. It’s not in the carnival proper, though; if you step away from the lights of the midway and tents, you’ll notice dozens of old wooden circus trailers, arranged in a circle, growing tighter together the closer to the center you walk. The trailers are functional living places, with built in beds - sometimes one, sometimes two - and a small table and an old wood burning stove with a cooking top just big enough to boil a kettle on. There’s a toilet, but if you want a shower you’ll have to go outside and find a tent set up at the outskirts of the makeshift trailer park where there are tent showers set up, locker room style.

The clearing in the middle of the parked caravan is completely empty except for a solitary midway game: a towering high striker. It must be at least twenty feet tall, surmounted by a round, red bell. A wooden mallet is leaned against a sign next to the game that reads, predictably, TEST YOUR STRENGTH.

Step right up.

Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

3. The island temple is accessible to all. The High Temple is only accessible to new characters this month - it will re-open to all others next month.

4. The Test your Strength game can be played by anyone. How well your character does is entirely up to you, but the game does not necessarily measure physical strength.

5. These residents of the island are normal humans. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

6. Any food found on the midway is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities.

7. Have fun!

Ⅱ. HALL OF MIRRORS
When it comes to amusements, the Hall of Mirrors has always been second-fiddle to the Haunted House. But the line for the former was shorter, so here you are. The guy working the door has weasel eyes and is smoking. He gestures for you and whoever is behind you to enter together; "No singles. For safety."

The lights are a dull neon, cycling from deep blue to cyan to purple and back again. You find that your outstretched fingers will bump against smooth, clear glass as often as not. The mirrors reflect the maze back into itself over and over, disorienting and strange.

Some of the mirrors are convex, some concave, and as you pass them your reflection warps and bends alongside that of whoever you're stuck inside the maze with.

At some point you will realise that the reflection looking back at you isn't quite right. It's still you, sure, but it's not how you really look, not on the outside.

Looking back at you from the cold glass is how you perceive yourself. Perhaps that's stronger, perhaps uglier, perhaps as a sniveling child or an ancient hag. And this reflection is going to follow you from mirror to mirror as you desperately try to find your way out.

One of you spots an exit sign, bleeding red light. Only catch is that it's behind a pane of glass. And another. And another. You could break your way through all of them, certainly, but it's not as if there's anything laying around for you to use to do so. Just yourself, which might work in action movies but tends to cause a lot of physical damage in the real world.

Above the glass someone has placed a sticker that reads, “who are you really?” in black sharpie. Answer it, and the glass will swing open. Don't, and well...

Guess you'll have several years worth of bad luck.

Notes:
1. Yes, characters can bash their way out of the maze, but it is real glass and will cut anyone who isn’t invulnerable. There is a first aid station run by extremely unreliable carneys on the premises, so hopefully they can patch themselves up enough there.

Ⅲ. THE CAROUSEL
CW: childhood trauma
Old fashioned organ music and a million flashing lights draws you to the carousel. It's a vintage delight: huge, with ornate animals carved out of wood and lovingly hand painted. There are horses, of course, but also lions and leopards and birds and rabbits and wolves... any animal you could want! In fact, you'll see an animal that looks perfectly YOU. You just have to climb up on it for a ride.

Settled on your mount, the ride begins to move. To your surprise, it begins to move backwards. You can't seem to ungrip the pole you're hanging on to, so you're helpless to escape as the ride spins again and again.

When it stops and you step off, you will be younger. You will in fact be the same age you were when a formative event happened to you.

You're a kid at a carnival! How fun! Well, maybe you're not that young, and it's probably not very fun at all considering that now your trauma is fresh.

The only way to become your proper age again is to get on the carousel and get it to run forward. Depending on your age, you might not be able to figure any of that out, but surely one of the other Travelers can help you. You'll definitely need someone to man the carousel controls. Oh, and be careful not to knock it into overdrive...

Notes:
1. If your character does not get back on the carousel and ride it in reverse, they will revert to their actual ages at the end of the month.

2. Please be especially mindful of content warnings with underage characters. A reminder that the game does not allow explicit sexual content with minors.

3. You do not have to regress your character to childhood - if a very formative event happened at age 20 for example, you can choose that route instead.

4. Speeding up the carousel while it is moving forward will result in, you guessed it, aging your character UP. Obviously you can ride it backwards again to fix this, or again the aging will be reversed at the end of the month.

Ⅳ. COULROPHOBIA
CW: clowns, suffocation
Who can possibly resist the big top? Not you! You're ushered into the tent and you take a seat in the stands, where you have an excellent view of the huge ring before you. The excitement in the air is palpable, and even if you're the grouchy type you'll find yourself a little bit thrilled.

It's a little surprising when the lights go up to the sound of screaming guitars. Mist belches from hidden foggers, and flames shoot from near the center of the ring. The lights stutter red, blue, green. The whole thing is a lot more rock show than it is Ringling Brother's.

At any rate, even if the ringmaster looks like a reject from a trailer park metal band and the music is liable to burst some eardrums, it's still a circus. There are trained horses and riders, contortionists, and a score of talented trapeze artists. It's all sparkling and impressive and terrific fun.

The trapeze artists take their bows, clearly ready for a break. And if a break is needed at the circus? You know what happens next, don't you?

SEND IN THE CLOWNS!

The clowns spill into the ring, all sorts of them! There's Harlequin and Pierrot, Auguste and Tramp. There's Bozos and Ronalds and Clarabelles and Krustys. Hopefully no Gacys, but there's so many of them that it's hard to know for sure.

One of these clowns - the one you hate the most, of course - approaches you in the stands. With comically exaggerated movements, it leans close to you and whispers...

Well. It whispers horrible things to you, really. It recounts to you some instance in your life where you delighted in the suffering of another, a moment where you really and truly were happy that somebody else was hurt. It's not a moment to be proud of, for sure, but as the clown tells your own secret shameful joy to you, you start to laugh. Really laugh - soon you're bent over double, tears running down your face, absolutely howling with laughter.

Your stomach hurts, and you're running out of breath. Very soon you won't be able to breathe at all.

Eventually, one of your fellow travelers won't be able to resist asking you, "What's so funny?"

The only way to stop laughing is to tell them. Otherwise you're going to pass out right where you sit, a creepy clown leering over you the whole time. Maybe your fellow traveler will be nice enough to drag you out of there if that happens, because if you're left alone? Everybody knows clowns get so much scarier alone in the dark.

Notes:
1. What happens if you really do get ditched with the clowns? Great question. Maybe they make you one of them. Maybe they eat you. Maybe you just wake up in the Big Top dressing room and see all the clowns smoking cigars and taking their floppy shoes off to film Clown Foot Erotica.

It wouldn't be a party without some jams.

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I’m sorry. I don’t mean to alarm you. You’re alright. I promise.

( She suspects the Sephiroth she knows would not take too kindly to such reassurance and so this younger self might not either. Still, she can’t stop her heart going out to a kid. )

As for the situation… Can you remember anything before the carousel? Or about the carousel ride itself?

[He continues to regard her in confusion, not used to being reassured or apologized to. It's happened occasionally with new lab techs but Professor Hojo doesn't like it. ...that does seem to be a point in favor of her not working for him, but Sephiroth doesn't know how to categorize her if she isn't.

Also, what the hell is a carousel?? He glances behind him at the thing he got off of a few minutes ago.]

...do you mean that? I don't recall getting on it. [Is he supposed to?]

( Him not remembering boarding the carousel makes things a touch more complicated. But isn't that the way of things? They're bound to be able to figure it out. )

That is what I mean, yes. I saw you getting off of it so I assume you took a spin.

( And she assumes said spin is quite probably the reason for the age reversal. Though she doesn't immediately discount the possibility of it having happened prior. )

I take it such a thing isn't a usual occurrence in the Science Department?

[He studies the carousel, trying to remember it, or even understand it. What was he doing on some kind of ride anyway?

He looks back at her.]

No. It isn't.

[...maybe he should just ask outright.]

If you aren't with the Company, then how do you know who I am?

( This... is going to take some explaining. The truth might sound like a tale of the fantastical but honesty is probably the best policy. )

No doubt this is going to be very strange to hear but we know one another. I know you when you're older than you are now. We're acquaintances. ( The word is chosen in case it might spark some memory. ) We found ourselves away from home, on a journey. We travel to different islands to learn about ourselves. This is one of those islands.

( Too much at once? Not enough? If he's anything like his adult self, he'll probably be quick in telling her either way. But the fact he's so young, seems almost vulnerable, makes her cautious. )

[Well, at least his wariness seems to be subsiding...... into skepticism. His eyebrows climb higher as she continues. An island journey? Time travel?]

Do you honestly expect me to believe that?

Faerie magic isn't real.

( Honestly? No, she doesn't expect him to believe it. She could offer a few things she knows about him but those that aren't specifically tied to the island wouldn't prove much.

Moving a little closer, she holds up her wrist so he can view her ScryWatch and nods towards his. )

We both have these. And...

( She brings up their text message exchange, letting him see the username. Maybe not the most convincing form of proof but it is something. )

See?

[It may not seem like much, but it gives him pause. He imitates her actions, managing to bring up the conversation on his own watch, a watch which is unlike anything he's seen from Shinra. He takes a step back to skim it, his brow furrowing.

A conversation between her and "Sephiroth"... it doesn't quite sound like him, but a part of that is because he's never been permitted to speak his mind. He glances at the robe he's wearing, embroidered with a griffin. Her work?]

...

It's elaborate, for a ruse. [Professor Hojo would never have come up with a conversation like that. Professor Hojo has never bothered to know him well enough.]

( She gives him as much time as he needs to scroll through the ScryWatch and process. If only they had access to a computer or anything similar - then she could interface to bring up her memories and show him. Alas, she hasn't seen anything like that. And that's assuming she would be able to interface here to begin with. )

A ruse in aid of what?

( Her tone isn't accusatory or condescending, merely gently curious. )

[If she doesn't know about Hojo, he doesn't want to tell her about Hojo.]

...training.

[Obviously it doesn't make sense, no matter the angle.]

May I ask what sort of training…?

( She knows Sephiroth is a soldier but is the boy standing before her old enough to be in military training? Even if he is, what sort of ‘training’ would a deception like that be? That he thinks it could be suggests, to her, that he may have been subjected to all manner of things. )

For SOLDIER.

...I realize I'm out of uniform. [Even if he doesn't know how or why that happened. Would she tell him that his older self is no longer in SOLDIER? ...that this is the sort of thing he wears now?]

Forgive my ignorance but I’m not quite sure what that is?

( She would think he means a soldier but if so, to phrase it in such a way seems too young, too childish.

Another question pokes at her - what does the Science Department have to do with training? Granted, she’s no expert on military training so it could be nothing of much significance at all. Maybe it’s just the fact it strikes a chord with her. )

You've never heard of SOLDIER? Shinra's elite combat force?

[Some of the things he read in that conversation implied she was from some other world, but... That's a lot to take in. A lot to expect him to accept.]

I’ve lived a rather sheltered life. There are lots of things I’m unfamiliar with.

( It’s not entirely a lie. Besides, she only tells it as she’s already bombarded him with a lot of outlandish information.

Though the adult Sephiroth perhaps wouldn’t be too fond of her coddling. Would he prefer she hammer in the harsh truths of the situation? Possibly. )

And I know this isn’t likely to mean much but I promise I’m not part of any ruse or training. I’m not trying to trick you.

[He doesn't know if it's plausible for a normal person not to know about SOLDIER. He's been meant for it his whole life.

He'll believe that she isn't trying to trick him on the Company's behalf. But...]

...then what are you trying to do?

To help you understand the situation. To help you get back to being the Sephiroth you’ve grown up to be.

( Though it raises an interesting dilemma - does he actually want to revert back to being his proper age? Is the island presenting an opportunity for a do-over? Probably not, as these sorts of effects don’t seem to be long-lasting thus far. )

[That's a good question - does he want to? If this crazy theory she's presenting him with is actually true, then... His older self would know a lot more than him, about what's going on and how to deal with it. He even knows some people... but he doesn't seem to want to know them.

Why wouldn't he want to know people?]

...but you don't have the power to change me back.

Not the power, no, but there’s typically a way to change what’s been done. I’m sure we could figure it out.

( Still contemplating if all this well-meaning help she’s offering is actually the right thing to do, Chloe’s features grow even softer.

Risky as it feels, she places a hand lightly on his shoulder. )

But you don’t have to do anything right away if you don’t want to. If you’d rather stay like this a while… I can help you navigate things.

( She takes her hand away. )

[He flinches, and goes very still at her touch.

...but it's fine? It's fine.

He's quiet for a moment, studying her. He doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to? She does seem nice, like he's read about people being. His gaze drifts past her, to the carnival. There's so much going on here that he doesn't understand, and that's scary, but it's also an opportunity. The sky is overhead. There's no one from Shinra telling him what he ought to be doing.]

It would make sense... to explore, first.

( Chloe gives a smile and a nod. Sephiroth wanting to investigate the carnival... Well, it's a novelty. She could be wrong, of course, but she doesn't picture his adult self being overly keen. If this young man had already been made part of the military, the least she can do is provide an opportunity to be a kid when it presents itself. )

Agreed. We can go wherever you like. There are games, rides, food... We can just have a little wander, hmm?

( All at his pace. Chloe isn't going to push. )

[Wherever he'd like? He's never been given that much freedom of choice, and it's a little much for him. He stands for a moment in uncertainty. He's never played any games like these, or ridden any rides.

But he also doesn't like to ask questions, if he can help it. Professor Hojo is so unpredictable, when you ask him questions. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it isn't.

He'll just... pick a direction, and watch what the other people do, and then he'll know. He nods, as much to himself as to Chloe, and starts walking... definitely down whichever avenue looks the least crowded.]

( Chloe can see echoes of herself in him. Where does the caged bird go when the door is open? What else does it know other than the confines its always resided in?

It isn't something she wants to let show. Not when he seems like he wants to engage with the world rather than cynically push it away. More unsure of the rides than the rest, she drifts them towards a few of the games. They aren't too busy, flashy or loud. )

It looks like this one is knocking down bottles with a ball... What do you think? Shall we give it a try?

[He's never even walked on dirt before... It feels different under his feet.

The bottle game looks simple, comprehensible. He's confident he can hit the target, and that relaxes him some.]

I can do that.

[If only the game weren't rigged. His first attempt knocks over the top bottle, but the others just wobble, and he frowns at the unexpected failure.]

( Chloe is frowning right along with him. A game of skill was one she thought would be a good choice. Only the game doesn't want to follow her plans. )

I'm sorry, Sephiroth. Those clearly should have fallen too.

( She isn't one for going full 'I want to speak to the manager' mode but this is supposed to be a nice time and she doesn't approve of underhanded tactics ruining it. Time to address the worker running the booth. )

Excuse me. I don't think the game is set up correctly. Could you check it, please?

( They get a look and a shrug from the guy then he tinkers with the bottles. Whether he cares he's been rumbled or if it's for show is anyone's guess. )

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