👻🎃🤡

[polymods]

✖ THE CARNIVAL

Ⅰ. THE TEMPLES
There's a subtle shift in the music you will hear drifting on the wind this month - gone is the calliope that screams just a little too loud, replaced instead by circus music that sounds cheerful and bright. The thrill rides are still undercut by rock music, but it seems less sinister. Any time you venture out, you'll find the people milling about are smiling, and none of those smiles seem like screams turned upside down.

The Caravan Temple remains - 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.

Access to the High Temple is also available to all Travelers this month.

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. Your character will revert to their true age if they were affected by the carousel last 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. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. CONCERT AND CANDY
CW: alcohol and drug use, sax music.
It wouldn't be a carnival if you didn't eat like a garbage disposal.

There's corndogs, deep fried mars bars, popcorn, donuts, funnel cakes, cheese fries, lemonade, burgers... Go on. Eat like you have a personal vendetta against your gastrointestinal tract. And of course you ought to help yourself to some cotton candy, because what's a fair without cotton candy?

There's pink and there's blue. Whichever colour you choose, you'll find that you start to feel a little funny after you eat it.

The pink cotton candy will fill you with a sense of pleasant euphoria. You'll find it easier to talk to people, and you'll find them just so much more pleasant than usual. You'll be empathetic, and just filled with love for life. You might even want to hug people, even if you're not usually the touchy feely type. You just feel so good.

The blue cotton candy will also make you feel good, but it's more mellow than the pink - you don't want to run around hugging people so much as you want to just chill out somewhere. You'll feel very relaxed, very open to talking to others about deep subjects like whether or not Kubrick really did fake the moon landing, man. Everything seems just a little more amusing, a little easier to handle.

To make things even better, there are outdoor concerts at night. No matter what band is on stage, you find yourself really enjoying it, even if the music isn’t usually your thing. There are kegs of beer set up around the edges of the concert area and you’re free to help yourself.

All that cotton candy and cheap beer might impair your judgement a little. Maybe... enough to get a tattoo? Calm down, they’re temporary. There’s a stand called Pirate Pete’s on the midway not far from the concert where a guy dressed as a pirate - Pete, presumably - will be happy to draw whatever you want on your choice of body part.

Whatever you wind up getting, you’ll find that whenever you or someone else touches it you’ll experience a vision of a memory associated with the imagery of your tattoo. So if you get a snarling wolf, you might experience a memory of a time you treated someone savagely. If you get ‘Mom’ in a heart, maybe you and whoever else happens to brush against it will see a memory of your dear old mother. Gosh, this could get revealing or embarrassing fast!

Fucking Pete.

Notes:
1. Any food found on the midway is consumable by non-human entities. The cotton candy will likewise affect anyone who is not human.

2. I still believe.

3. The memory can be one that your character has repressed or forgotten.

---

Ⅲ. TUNNEL OF LOVE
CW: potentially sexual content
Maybe it's the cotton candy, or maybe you're just really captivated by the swan boats, but you find yourself drawn to one of the cheesiest rides in the place: the Tunnel of Love.

You can't ride alone, of course - this is the sort of thing meant for two! The guy running the ride ushers one of your fellow travelers on with you, then wolf-whistles, imitates a cat noise and a bed squeaking, then purrs, pants, barks, howls, twiddle his lips and says. “Hubba hubba!”

He ignores you when you glare at him.

The inside of the tunnel is surprisingly pleasant - it does not, as a matter of fact, smell of stale water or unmentionable bodily fluids. The water you're floating on is crisp and clear, like a real spring, and alongside either side of it are miniature rolling hills of what looks like real grass. The lights are low and pinkish, casting a soft glow over everything.

And they're playing one of your favourite songs on the speakers! Whatever that may be.

As you ride along, you'll start to think that your companion is just incredibly witty and intelligent and good looking. These feelings may be sexual or romantic, or they may be perfectly platonic - the result either way is that you really, really think this person is just the absolute greatest. You might find yourself telling them things you never would normally. Or doing things you might not otherwise…

Of course, the second you're off the ride you might find all of those fuzzy feelings depart. Better hope you didn't do anything TOO embarrassing.

Notes:
1. Only for characters of age havin the intercourse, please.

2. If your characters want to get naughty, they may discover that these swan boats have a little glove box containing condoms, lube and the like. You could also just fill the former up with water and throw them at that guy running the ride when it's over.

---

Ⅳ. HAUNTED HOUSE
CW: violence, blood
You might be on carnival island, but it’s still October. It’s time to get spooky! And what better way to do that than to take a ride through the haunted house?

A bearded fellow in half-assed clown makeup and an Uncle Sam costume loads you onto a small rail car with at least one other person. It rolls forward along the bumpy tracks into darkness. Not that it stays totally dark for long - sickly lights illuminate animatronics and mannequins posed alongside the track. There are foam cemeteries and giant rubber spiders galore.

As you move further and further into the attraction the better the decorations get. Those rubber spiders now look awfully real, and that bat that just dive bombed the car sure seemed legit.

Suddenly the car jerks to a halt. You peer around in the gloom, and then lights go up.

One bathes a coffin in red. Another illuminates a gravestone in green. The last is a facsimile of the moon itself, pale and silver.

Before you can do more than wonder what the heck is going on, one of these attractions splits open and a monster leaps toward you. A vampire, a ghost, or a werewolf respectively. If you’re quick you can get out of the way and run for the exit.

If you’re not?

The vampire’s teeth sink into your veins. The ghost’s cold hand wraps around your heart. The werewolf’s claws tear your flesh.

You’re lucky in that it doesn’t kill you; somehow you manage to get away and stumble outside, where you swiftly discover that the rest of your month is going to be pretty goddamn strange as you transform right then and there into whatever monster attacked you.

That’s right, for the month of October you may have to figure out a way to deal with cravings for flesh and blood, or how to get anything done when objects just fall right through your glowing hands.

You may be understandably upset about this. If you return to the Haunted House and accost the guy running it, he’ll tell you that the only way to break the curse is to admit to why you see yourself as that monstrous archetype. Now piss off, he ain’t got time for your jackassy questions.

Notes:
1. To return to their natural state, your character must reveal a personality trait or incident that would correspond to the monster they’ve turned into. For example, a person turned vampire might talk about how they feel they drain other people’s energy with their problems, or that they feel drained by other people’s. A ghost might not be able to let go of the past, and a werewolf might have anger issues. Interpret as you will!

2. The monsters can abide by any monster rules that you like. Is your vampire a Twilight vampire or a Dracula? It’s up to you!

3. The horror ride guy is weirdly impervious to harm.

4. All characters will return to normal at the end of October.

The kind of jams that last all night.

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

Questions, comments, concerns?

[polymods]

You know what to do, Travelers!

camilla hect | the locked tomb | ota

[hect]

i: the caravan temple.

It feels strange, settling into new lodgings alone and waking up by herself.

She's spent her entire life by her best friend Palamedes' side, a perfect cavalier always following a few steps behind him; and more recently, she's been living in cramped, confined quarters with two other women. Privacy has been almost unheard-of, and so this rickety cot is a luxury she's unaccustomed to.

So Camilla makes a point of being outside the trailer in the evenings, an introvert surprised by how much she misses company: you'll find her sitting on a crate she must've stolen from the carnival supplies, quietly people-watching by the light of a lantern. There's a warm kettle beside her for tea, her boots propped up against the steps of her trailer.

She's a new arrival, and this is her first island, and she's still figuring things out.

ii: concert & candy.

Cam is usually stoic and terse, but the beer and blue cotton candy leave her mellow and far more talkative than she's ever been. For the first time in her life, she's the one striking up cheerful conversations with the person beside her in the seething crowd watching the band: "I've never actually been to a concert before," she says, sounding a bit like an anthropologist surveying wild animals, bemused by what she sees. "Have you?"

Courtesy of Pirate Pete, there's the drawing of a sword and a simple numeral drawn on her forearm in bold black ink: VI, for the Sixth, for the space station back home she misses, even now. Jammed elbow-to-elbow together in the crowd, it's easy enough to accidentally bump into the tattoo.

iv: haunted house.

Congratulations, Camilla Hect: you are now a werewolf.

Which leads to one now-grumpy young woman wandering the fairgrounds after that terrible encounter in the haunted house, partially-transformed in Teen Wolf flavour: looking half-lupine with glowing gold eyes, pointed ears, claws, fangs, and a slightly ridged brow. Following the scent of food, she'll trail anyone eating anything containing meat, plaintively asking (begging, rather): "Can I have some of that?"

Or, later, you might just find her sitting morosely on a tree stump, a half-eaten turkey leg in her lap. Help her follow the ride attendant's advice to break the curse?

wildcard.
( Totally open to other things, like scarfing down snacks at a food stall; awkward run-ins trying to get a quick shower in; platonic trips in the tunnel of love, or something else entirely. Want to confab first or a personalised starter? Feel free to hmu @ quadrille or via PM! I'm also happy to match brackets, so switch away if ya like. )

concert!

[detectivemiracle]

"Yeah, but it's been a long time since I enjoyed one!" Chloe responds with a grin. She, too, has been at the blue cotton candy tonight - and some beer. She's never been able to hold her booze. "The last one I went to was super loud, also the guy I went with eventually turned out to be an immortal criminal mastermind who tried to kill me!"

She doesn't seem bothered by this in the least. Somehow, she's managed not to rub against Camilla's tattoo. Yet.

Chloe Decker (Lucifer) | OTA

[detectivemiracle]

1. Caravan/Temple

[ Chloe has managed to track down some instant coffee, which doesn't taste great, but it's something. Something warm, and caffeinated, and she can't stand the taste of tea so this'll have to do.

She looks tired, her shoulders hunched slightly. One hand is wrapped around the mug of coffee perched on her knee, and the other is fiddling absently with the chain around her neck. ]

This is the longest I've been away from my daughter since she was born.

[ She says that - almost to herself, perhaps. To no one in particular. Or whomever might be near. ]

2. Concert and Candy

[ Perhaps in an attempt to get out of her melancholy mood, Chloe has tried out some of the blue cotton candy. And, well, that worked! She's feeling much better now, relaxed and smiling, possibly with a beer in hand. She may even have found a lighter to use to wave around during a big ballad at the concert. ]

Doesn't this band just remind you of the Bangles?

[ Chloe loves the Bangles. As she raises her arm again, you might notice the temporary tattoo on it - near her shoulder. The cotton candy must be really strong, because Chloe would never in her right mind get any tattoo, let alone one as cheesy as this: it's a heart with an arrow through it, and the initials L + C in the middle. Because of course she did. ]

3. Wildcard!

[ I'm open to many other ideas! Platonic rides on the love tunnel? Helping someone out of a monstrous change? Just hanging out eating carnival food? Drop me something or hit me up on plurk (frodabaggins) so we can plan something! ]

1

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth is only headed back to his trailer, but his attention is drawn by the smell of coffee that might not be quite as terrible as what they're serving at the food stands, and he catches her words.

He's... been acquainted with parents, of course. Fathers, mostly. Soldiers far from their families, who lamented it but still chose it for themselves. Months apart was commonplace. But he doesn't know about mothers.]

...is she still quite young then?

David Alleyne | Marvel-616 | OTA

[helpdesk_hero]

I - Pink Cotton Candy CW: Drugs (sorta because cotton candy)

Sweets and junk food and processed sugars were not things that David frequently ate. Unfortunately this island wasn't really letting people make much in the way of healthy life choices, now was it? There probably wasn't even quinoa on this whole island was there? Sooner or later someone had to surrender to things, and while he did his best with fries and lemonade and funnel cakes without sugar or anything else, even David had to admit sometimes you needed some other flavors.

Cotton candy: sweet, not too messy, easy to eat in small batches and save for later, and it was nice looking too. Surely this was safe.

Of course that had been a while ago, and David was now more than half way into his pink confection, and oh was he ever smiling widely. Somehow life just seemed better today. The temperature wasn't too warm or too cold, the sun was pleasant, and the noises weren't so bad. Everything seemed... hopeful.

"Hey!" he called whenever he saw someone with a Scrywatch on. Clearly the natives already knew it was a wonderful day, right? "Isn't it beautiful out?"

II - Music Is The Thing CW: Drugs (sorta because cotton candy), Sax music apparently

If there was one thing that David absolutely did love and would go out of his way for if it was of any quality, it was music. Music that had a brassy undertone like with saxophones? He was so beyond there. There was David, quite happily waying to the music as part of the crowd. There was another plastic bag of pink cotton candy at his side, and he was happy to pull little pieces out between humming along with the music.

And the dancing, oh the dancing. Anyone nearby was bound to get David trying to pull them close to sway and shimmy to the music. Yes, he could properly dance, but who did that at a concert.

"God I could do this every night," he laughed as the band paused between one song to prepare for the next. It was one of those rare moments where someone could truly hear themselves. Or, you know, the cheerful guy next to them in the crowd. "You love the music, right? You know, I know how to play guitar. And the trumpet. I don't know why I can play the trumpet. And the cello. That one's from Kate."


III - Kiss and Don't Tell

There's no harm in going on one ride, right? Sure David knows on some level that a Tunnel of Love is more likely to be broken down and awkward than any other ride in the whole of a carnival or fair, but still, here he was, half bouncing in his excitement to get into the ride. Soon he was at the front of the lie and he let himself down into the boat, happily sitting down.

He hadn't even thought about how there were two people being shoved into each boat. Somehow that had slipped his mind. So he looked up with surprise at the person that was being helped down in beside him.

"Oh, hi! You looking forward to the ride? I bet the music is nice."

He mostly ignored the guy running the ride and all his noises. His attention instead was on the person that would be sharing the ride with him.

"Remember not to splash the water. It's not usually clean in rides like this."

Okay, that's not hte most cheerful thing, but he still is saying it. Even if it's going to prove to be wrong.

IV - Wildcard

[I'm open to other things as well, especially with prior CR. I'm not really looking into the haunted house, but I'm happy to just about anything else, including bumping into people's tattoos or holding hands while other people get tats. So if you've got any ideas or desires, drop them here, message me, or hit me up on plurk churbooseanon so we can think]

III

[unkindled_madness]

Sephiroth is probably one of the last people David would expect to be ushered--willingly even--into the boat with him. He definitely seems more chill than usual. Still careful to arrange his hair so he isn't sitting on it, but otherwise unconcerned about the proximity or the fact that he's about to go into something called the Tunnel of Love. He's not smiling, but his expression is relaxed, the sort that could easily become a smile.

As the ride starts to move, he glances over the side of the boat. "I've seen my share of polluted water. It seems all right."

II: Saxy! (For David and Carter)

[kyley_b]

Kyle, for his part, was really more of a rap and hiphop guy. But Carter had more or less dragged him to the concert because Carter's musical tastes were apparently perfectly in tune with 80s sax solos. (Kyle suspected that Carter was also probably the first one to do Journey at any given karaoke night.) So the two Jersey boys wound up in the crowd, nibbling on cotton candy and drinking beers. Kyle was the first to spot David, but thankfully it was Carter who got pulled in to dance. Kyle had all the rhythm and grace of a newborn deer.

"DUDE. We could start a band!" Kyle enthused. "I mean. I think we need a drummer... Carter, David, you BOTH play guitar. I mean, David apparently plays everything. Carter, you probably play the fuckin... recorder or something, too."

Cotton Candy

[ratcatcher_2]

Cleo didn't need much of an excuse to hug new people; new potential friends - and she has also partaken of the pink cotton candy and it's made her even more optimistic and feeling great. She beams toward the voice. Her own Scrywatch is currently yellow but she looks overall very innocent and her small frame and sweet demeanour gives the basic impression she'd never even hurt a fly.

Especially right now.

"It is soooo beautiful, yes!" She exclaims then giggles; giddy with joy. Bright-eyed, she rushes toward David, arms out. "I think it's hugging time! Yes? Yes!"

II

[detectivemiracle]

"Really? That's super cool!"

Chloe has had some of the blue cotton candy, leaving her - well, high as a kite, and that plus the beer someone handed her earlier means she's lost all her normal inhibitions. Which means she's dancing. Badly. She is a terrible dancer at the best of times.

"I had like three whole years of piano lessons but I'm terrible at it," she adds, giggling like a school girl.

Wildcard!

[speed_of_snark]

He's not exactly searching for David, more like keeping an eye out for him. Because as much as Jean-Paul would love to just ignore any awkwardness, he is - once again - an adult. He needs to address things in an adult fashion.

Ugh.

So when he spots David on the midway he walks over, no quite smiling but at least not looking entirely like he just ate a lemon.

"David."

Chloe | Detroit: Become Human

[neverwither]

⭕ TEST YOUR STRENGTH

Breaking the last of her programming has left Chloe... discombobulated. Feelings that have been dealt with by denying their existence and building a home for them that's been locked up tight now slither their way back into her awareness. The most egregious of these is the anger. It's the one she's always struggled with most of all. As much as she's been able to tell others with absolute conviction that their anger is a message, a sign of passion, a warning of injustice, she's never been able to apply it to herself.

Pretty things were never meant to have such ugly feelings.

Now, without the built in compulsion to avoid bothering and offending her creator at all costs, there is no secret home to hide it away. But there is the big mallet poised by the game.

Picking it up, she strikes over and over. There's no concern about how close the bullet gets to the bell. Just the visceral sensation of smacking something.



⭕ CONCERT & CANDY

She missed out on Connor's cotton candy before so Chloe is making up for it now. It's sticky and sweet and pink and it's good. So good that she's grinning ear to ear unabashedly. Because she can do that now. She's free. And that must be why she feels so giddy. Emotional highs, emotional lows, those all come with big change, right? Chloe nods to herself and pops another piece of the treat into her mouth. The carnival she's been less than keen on has developed a fabulous sheen and she feels better, so much better, than she has done in years.

Even better still, there's so many people. So many lovely people she's met here. Not to mention the lovely people she hasn't gotten to know so well yet. Regardless, her thirium pump is filled with the glow of affection for them all. There's even an affection for herself. She gazes fondly at her ScryWatch, which is a greener hue. And that's lovely, too.

"I thought it might all be gone, you know?" she hums to no one in particular. Maybe to the ScryWatch itself. "I thought all the good parts might belong to him. I could still be me, I think. The me who's actually me." For the little sense it probably makes to the average listener, it apparently makes perfect sense to the android.

When Chloe isn't musing on the nature of androids, she's dancing along to the music. A certain grace and poise remains as she sways and twirls around freely. But not so much awareness of personal space so she might just shimmy into someone.



⭕ (PLATONIC) TUNNEL OF LOVE

The swan boats are weirdly adorable and it's one of the more chilled offerings, ride-wise. Why not? As her good mood hasn't faded yet, she shakes her head with a smile at the carnival guy's display. It's all in the spirit of things, and Chloe is more in the spirit of things. The ride even looks reasonably well maintained compared to most of the other sights she's seen! Or maybe she's just given up on the idea of anything being suitably sanitary.

Assuming she would ride the swan alone, she pauses for a second when another Traveller is also boarded. Then it's all smiles and the patting of the seat. Waiting until the ride attendant is likely out of earshot, she leans in slightly to speak quietly to the individual stuck with her. "It will probably be delightfully tacky." A sparkle of glee shines in her eyes as she allows herself to admit that a) something might be tacky and b) that she finds it to be a point in the ride's favour.



⭕ WILDCARD

[ Want to choose your own adventure? Catch me at another_thoughts_hat or via PM and we can do a thing! Pls don't mind the shift to prose - will match whatever style you prefer! ]

CONCERT & CANDY

[prodigalmess]

Malcolm's glad to see Chloe, somebody that he's come to consider a friend. The fact that she's an android is fascinating to him, and he hopes that he hasn't offended her with all of his questions about her nature. She's the first android that he's ever met, so that means she unfortunately gets subjected to the third degree by someone who is innately curious about everything.

Tonight, Malcolm's not really in the mood for questions though. He's dancing to the cheesy music and enjoying himself. Neither of them are watching where they're going, so it could be either of their faults when they end up turning and banging into each other.

"Sorry," he calls over the music with a laugh. "You okay?"

Malcolm Bright | Prodigal Son | OTA

[prodigalmess]

CONCERT AND CANDY

Malcolm has never needed a personal invitation to eat like a garbage disposal. His eating habits are, in a word, awful. If he could get away with eating nothing but Twizzlers all the time, he'd do it. Occasionally, he has to track down some salad so that he isn't doubled over with stomach issues, but mostly, he's pretty content to eat trash.

With the ominous music gone, Malcolm is feeling tentatively better about this island. He's never the type to let his guard completely down though. No, the fact that things seem calmer and happier could definitely be a trick. It probably is.

He's eaten a lot of cotton candy lately and today is no exception. While chomping down on some of the blue wispy treat, he actually starts to feel like everything might be okay. This is an unusual feeling for him. He just feels so chill. Is this what it's like to take drugs? Maybe treating his PTSD with pharmaceuticals has been the wrong step all along.

When the band starts to play later in the night, Malcolm gets way more into it than he should. The buttoned-up guy who wears suits every day in his normal life is clapping and jumping around to this cheesy 80s music. Surprisingly, he has some pretty good rhythm. Want to ask him why that is? He might share. He's in a really sharing mood for some reason.

"They need to use saxophone in more rock music," he calls to whoever happens to be jamming next to him.

TUNNEL OF LOVE

[ M/F for anything shippy, OTA for platonic. ]

Maybe it's the remnants of the effects of the cotton candy, but Malcolm decides to ride the Tunnel of Love. It's going to be cheesy as hell. He already knows this. But the swan boats look inviting and it actually looks clean and peaceful inside the ride. Why not?

Of course, he can't go in alone, and after the carnie makes a big deal about Malcolm and his partner sharing the swan boat, Malcolm rolls his eyes and accepts that he's going to have some company for the ride. The light dims as they move into the tunnel.

There's faint music playing somewhere within and Malcolm squints, straining his ears. "Is that... Ella Fitzgerald?"

WILDCARD

[ I'm open to other prompts as well! Feel free to PM or contact me on Plurk at sparks_fly. ]

concert

[nanban]

Malcolm isn't the only one who's been chowing down on the blue cotton candy. Hawks is a pretty chill person just generally. Well…that's not exactly true, but he's good at pretending to be a pretty chill person. After that candy, though, he actually feels it for once. Like maybe this island isn't all that bad. Creepy clowns who?

So he's pretty content to join in the dumb rock music fest. Where else do they have to be? It's not like they can go home. It's not like there's an immediate threat to fight. And it feels pretty nice to be here. Hawks is a decent dancer, but he's not really trying. Besides that, in a crowd, his wings kind of get in the way. He's used to that, though, so he keeps them close to his body and just makes do.

"You know what? You're right. That saxophone is choice," he calls back with a grin. He hasn't met Malcolm before, but that doesn't matter. Any company seems welcome right now. The whole world seems kinda welcome.

Quentin Quire | Marvel 616

[quire]

sugar high - ota

Quentin has a sweet tooth. When it’s not being satiated by energy drinks, candy is the next best thing to a stimulant. And of course he prefers pink. It’s his trademark colour after all.

By the time he realizes something is amiss there’s too much sugar coursing through his bloodstream to care all that much. Later he’ll cringe at any surviving memory of this sweetness induced bender, but for now, anyone who runs across him might just be glad he’s a little less like himself for a moment.

“Hey, don’t do that,” he says earnestly. Slinging his arm around your shoulder. “This game is rigged. Like so rigged. Don’t let them deceive you like that. You deserve better than that. You deserve that giant stuffed rabbit up there. Look at it. I bet its so fucking fluffy. Let’s win you that rabbit.”

fresh ink - ota

He doesn’t remember agreeing to it, but at some point he sat down for some body art. Now asleep at the table, he's hours deep in a seriously elaborate chest piece involving an anatomical heart, a rising phoenix and a winding ribbon of text that reads HOT HEADED COLD HEARTED at one end, and KYLE 4 LITERALLY EVER at the other.

Even for someone like Quentin who struggles with moderation, it's excessive in every sense of the word. Who’s going to tell him it’s not permanent?

wildcard - ota

[ooc: Still very much down for any of the Sept. prompts or a wildcard!

fresh ink

[gravity_grrl]

Quentin has been asleep on the tattoo table for so long that Pirate Pete has gone on his break, leaving him alone at the little tattoo stand. Snoozing and drooling.
Roxy spots him and after a long debate with herself where she decides to NOT draw a penis on his forehead she pokes him in the bellybutton.

"Wakey wakey Pinkie Pie."

(ooc: wanna skip some of the usual intro stuff since she already inserted herself between him and Kyle for cuddles?)

Logan | Marvel 616

[howlett]

temple + high striker - ota

As cramped and close quarter as a caravan town can be, it’s the kind of living he’s comfortable with. Just outside the steps of his own wagon he’s kept fire burning for days. Long enough that the embers are low and hot and perfect for cooking. The smell of coffee brewing is a welcome change from the sweet, greasy scents across the fair ground.

He’s parked himself on the step of his vardo and watches that high striker game. As people have come and go from it for days and he’s watched to see who succeeds and who fails. It feels a bit like working over a koan. More than actually solving it, he begins to suspect the act of thinking about it is what it means to impress upon like him.

“Give it a try,” he says encouragingly to the next person who wanders up to consider it.

drink, drink, ink - ota

Sweets have never really spoken to him. Beer on the other hand is a word he knows in just about every earthly language and a few unearthly ones too.

He’s still nursing a drink as he looks at the parlour walls decked out in flash sheets. He’s had his share of tattoos in his lifetime. Like most things in his life, they never last. For Logan, getting inked has proven little more than a parlour trick. A good way to impress someone long enough to get into their bed. The ink is always gone by morning and so is he.

Watching people come and go with their own personalized art he can’t help but think he’s never been decisive enough to know what he’d want if one were ever to stay put.

“How long did that take yuh?” he asks, nodding at another fresh tattoo.

wildcard - ota

[ooc: Still very much down for any of the Sept. prompts or a wildcard too! Get at me here if you prefer either of these

Ink

[ratcatcher_2]

The young woman turns at the voice and she gives Logan a warm smile. She's has a petite frame and maybe doesn't look the type to have gotten a large realistic-looking rat curled over her entire upper arm. But there it is. She's been missing her best rat friend and if she couldn't have Sebastian here with her then the next best thing was this painted tattoo - if she could have gotten it permanently, she may have even done so. As it was this was a nice substitute, making it feel like he was still with her somehow.

"It was almost an hour," she replies. "He did a good job, didn't he?" She peers down at her arm, pleased, then back to Logan. "Are you thinking of getting something?"

Connor | Detroit: Become Human | OTA

[lickstheevidence]

⭕ Concert and Candy

Since he's able to eat like a garbage disposal here, Connor does. He wants to try everything, discover all these new tastes and textures to add to his database. Most things he's content enough to try only once, but he stops in his tracks when he sees the cotton candy again. That's different. It's cotton candy. Connor is practically addicted to the stuff now, and while he hadn't been actively seeking it out, he's not going to pass it up! Blue is his favorite color, so the choice is simple, and he ends up walking away with enough to make him sick to his stomach, if that were possible.

After spending the day munching on the candy, he's feeling pretty good, chill and relaxed. Nothing bothers him, so he meanders his way along the midway, going vaguely in the direction of the outdoor concert venue. The music sounds pretty good, yeah? But before he can get there his eye is drawn to the guy dressed like a pirate, hawking tattoos, and that sounds like the greatest idea in the world. Despite his deviancy, he's still not very imaginative so he requests the most immediate thing he can think of, the Cyberlife triangle and Android logo. Wriggling out of his shirt, he presents his bare back to Pete, telling him exactly where to place it. And then he has to keep his shirt off so people can see it, right?

Then he's off, on his way again towards the music and mass of bodies twisting and writhing in front of the stage. Why not? Kicking off his shoes so he's only dressed in his jeans now, he wanders into the crowd and is swallowed up by it immediately as he joins in the dancing, eyes closed and LED circling a lazy blue as he moves along to the music, bumping and being bumped.

"I'm starting to understand why humans enjoy music so much," he says, to no one in particular.

⭕ Tunnel of Love

Connor would be eyeing this ride dubiously and probably would have turned away altogether if not for the effects of the cotton candy still circulating through his system, encouraging him to do new things no matter how strangely the ride operator behaves. He gives him a cursory glance of confusion, but shrugs it off as he's ushered into a swan boat with another person. And what's that? One of Hank's favorite jazz songs, one that Connor is passingly familiar with, enough to recognize. He doesn't question why a tunnel of love would be playing jazz, because it perfectly suits his mellow mood.

His companion is just fantastic, too. He leans forward to show them his tattoo, smiling knowingly as he taps his LED. "I'm an android. Have you ever met an android before? I'm not only an android, I'm a prototype. That means they put all kinds of stuff into my program to see what might work! What about you?"

⭕ Haunted House

Every single ride seems to pair him up with another person. It's fine. He's not concerned about it. He's gotten over the Tunnel of Love and his embarrassing behavior there.

He settles back to try to enjoy this ride- he wouldn't have chosen it if he didn't want to see what it was like. And also maybe hide out in the gloom for a while.

He flinches and waves frantically at his head when the bat divebombs the car, but when the car stops and he looks up again, he squints as his eyes adjust to the lighting and the shapes that are looming within. What?

Even with his lightning fast reflexes, he's still not fast enough to avoid the vampire (it's fake isn't it? Surely it's a mannequin!) that lunges for him, sinking its teeth into his neck and sucking. Gasping in surprised shock, Connor fights it off, then flees toward the exit, holding his bleeding neck with one hand, the blue blood dripping through his fingers. Luckily for him, it's gotten dark outside, or he might have more problems than thirium loss.

As he pulls his hand away to look at the blue blood there, he whispers to himself, "what the hell?" as he stumbles back toward the caravans.

⭕ Wildcard!

[Any other ideas? I'm open to them! Find me through PMs or at CyberLife]

Tunnel of Love

[neverwither]

Seeing Connor at the ride, Chloe is an android on a mission. Aping a scene from a dozen cheesy romantic comedies, she’s snaking her way through the line and making apologies as she goes. Waiting politely be damned – the stars have aligned and this is the moment. Buoyed by her conversation with Kyle, the cotton candy and that they’re at the tunnel of love, Chloe is determined to not let the opportunity slip through her fingers.

His would-be boat buddy is tapped on the shoulder and given a hasty spiel about how she needs to get on this swan and she’s very sorry and she’s sure whoever they ride with is going to be excellent company but she really must insist on taking this seat and thank you very much.

Before the bemused individual can actually give an answer, Chloe has hopped into the boat. Happily chatting away, Connor doesn’t seem to be any the wiser. Chloe’s smile could light up the entire tunnel.

“A prototype? Oh, do tell me more. I’m sure you have all kinds of fascinating features.”

And yes, Chloe does already have her head on his shoulder.

joel | the last of us | ota

[antifungi]

i. concert & candy

[ There's no good reason for Joel to feel good about any of this - not about where he is, or what's going on, or the looming specter of guilt, always so perilously close, for what he's unwillingly been made to leave behind. He hasn't, either, not for a moment he's been here.

Until, of course, now. The cotton candy is another uncomfortable (painful) pang of nostalgia - until it isn't. Until he stops caring so much about, really, anything except the beer in his hand and the loud, relaxing cadence of music he feels like he can only ever almost recognize, as he wanders the fairgrounds.

Eventually, he winds up at Pirate Pete's, though he isn't high enough to think of getting any ink (temp or otherwise), himself. No, he's more inclined to post up across from the whole affair, barely propped up on a ratty, overstuffed couch someone's dragged out of a trailer. He only glances over when someone sits down beside him, raising his beer toward the latest tattoo he's spectating. ]

You're just in time. Think this one's supposed to be some kind of... uh, flaming eagle playin' guitar?

ii. haunted house [ cw: violence, blood, gore ]

(a) - [ Don't get scratched. Don't get bit. Words to live by, that he has, somehow, for two decades, now - only for that deeply ingrained mantra to fail him.

In Joel's defense, though, he never had to fight off a fucking werewolf. Definitely wasn't expecting one to pop out of a goddamn carnival ride.

He stumbles out the exit to the haunted house panting and clutching his arm, blood pouring hot between his fingers. Shit. The gash burns like nothing else, like venom seeping into his veins, and the lights and motion of the carnival blur as he huffs out a rough breath, shaking his head as if that'll clear it. He thinks he catches a glimpse of someone approaching, in the corner of his eye, and snarls a short, ] Get back. I'm—

[ Infected, but that's not right, is it? Close enough, though, maybe - and it's all he manages to grit out before his bones start to crack and his skin starts to split and then it's all nothing but howling pain. ]

(b) - [ He doesn't know exactly where he's been or what he's done, but maybe that's not such an unfamiliar feeling. Covered in blood (and other, unacknowledged things), wearing the tatters of his clothes, he staggers through the closely circled wagons, searching for the obvious solution to the one problem he can solve, in all this— But where are those damn showers? ]

( always open to wildcard options & further plotting, hmu at gravejuice or by pm if you'd like something else! )

ii. b

[speed_of_snark]

[Thus far, Jean-Paul's time on the islands has actually been fairly easy. Sure, there's been some psychological hardships, but overall things have been much less violent than he's used to.

So when he sees a man drenched in blood stalking by his wagon he does a proper double take. Then he's out the door and only a few feet away from the man in a literal second.]

Is all of that blood yours?

Roxy Spaulding|Gen13|OTA

[gravity_grrl]

Ⅲ. TUNNEL OF LOVE
(M/F for shippy stuff, OTA for platonic)

Okay so it's totally cheesy and dumb and sappy but as a natural romantic Roxy has wanted to ride the Tunnel of Love since she got here, especially since this Tunnel of Love actually looks nice. It doesn't smell like jizz and the water actually looks clean so she bounces into line excitedly. Of course she'd prefer to go on it with someone cute but hey at this point she's just happy to have the company.

"Which side of the swan boat do you want?" She asks, throwing you a grin.

Ⅳ. HAUNTED HOUSE
(CW: death, panic attack, anxiety)

It started out dumb and fun, like most haunted houses.
The cart is small and as it jostles forward Roxy laughs and points out that some of the rubber bats still have their price tags on them, the whole thing is reminiscent of a dollar store mixed with someone's haunted garage but that's okay, she's having fun.

Until she sees the gravestone.

Bathed in eerie green light she suddenly feels weirdly nervous looking at it and leans a little closer to her fellow traveler, almost shying away from it. "Omg a styrofoam graveyard. Soooo scary." She quips, her voice sounding much less bold and sarcastic as usual. It sounds almost scared. "You think they would-"

She's interrupted when something brushes past her face, unseen, but she reacts as if someone physically just touched her. Twisting around in the little cart. "What the fuck was that?" She demands, her eyes looking around wildly.

"Did you just feel that?"

She looks to her left and that's when she sees it, a shimmering white figure that is slowly approaching the now stalled cart. It doesn't walk as its feet are barely there, the whole thing is intangible and hurts her head to look at as it seems to shimmer in and out of focus. And yet she can't look away.

"...holy shit." She whispers and then suddenly the ghost leaps forward with uncanny speed, it's hand plunging through her chest and wrapping tightly around her heart.

When it squeezes she sees an awful white light, bathing her entire body and somewhere she can hear herself screaming.
Because she can feel death.
Dying.
And it is cold.

I mean #3 was more than a little foreshadowed. In that it was blatantly said out loud. XD

[what_fourth_wall]

"WHOA HEY!!! Speak the words, appear in the present." For Roxy, actual time has probably passed. For Deadpool, he literally just jumped from one thread right into another in the space of five minutes. "Don'tcha just love roleplay?"

(Did you really just start talking about roleplay outside the Tunnel of Love?)

"Oh yeah oops, got those euphemisms up in here."

Well, he isn't exactly cute. Like, at all. But he'd won her a big old Jigglypuff prize and made her laugh? That had to count for something. Also, he was the one being ushered into the boat with her so it looked like this was happening either way.

"Oh you know, either side is the right side if you know what I mean."

"HUBBA HUBBA!" The ride operator belts out.

"Indeed, my man, indeed." And he gives the guy a high five. Hey, he was enjoying his job and a hundred times better than the carousel guy that he'd had to gruesomely murder. Let him have his fun, right?

"But seriously, I'll take whichever side. And you can also take the side I take." The vibes of the ride were already hitting him. Or maybe it was just the vibes carrying over from the fun they'd had after his horrifying carousel experience that she'd rescued him from.

Gideon Nav | The Locked Tom | OTA

[necrosavior]

Ⅱ. CONCERT AND CANDY
Back to full size, full age, and full authority over herself, Gideon still decides some immaturity and/or relaxation are in order. Surely, given the foggy bits of memory she has from her time stuck down the back of Harrow's head, it's not immature to relax. Lyctors (and God, but she's not thinking about God) get up to weird shit. A beer (that's new) and thin whisps of sugary carbohydrates (also new) are just what the quartermaster orders. It comes in two light colors, which already makes it better than any Ninth equivalent. That would have only come in black (and bone color if they could be pressed into making a second). Gideon mentally flips a coin and picks the one on the right. It's blue. Cool.

It's a casual night. Not much to worry about. Gideon wonders, briefly, if she's irritated Harrow into needing some alone time after prolonged exposure to her younger shittier self. Everyone is a shitty teen. And shitty pre-teen is raw unaged shitty teenager.

Time, two beers, and a whole ass cloud of sugar sees her to Pete and Pete's craft. People get all kinds of pictures inked onto their skin. Some words too. Gideon wonders where Harrow is. If they were there together, they could both get "One Flesh, One End." Gideon plans to add "bitch" after hers. Just like she did in the pool. But, no Harrow, and Gideon's got more identity than Harrow (sometimes it's a close thing). She sits down, looks Pete dead in the eyes. "Two things. First, I want a skull, not a full skull, none of that bottom jaw bottom row of teeth stuff, just the top part, and it's wearing sunglasses," Gideon taps her sunglasses as reference. The tattoo shop is lit up bright as can be. "Second, broadsword, plain black iron, simple crossguard and pommel, down the length of the inside of my arm. Thanks."

OOC: Further starts will be in comments. Wildcard or personalized starts welcome. Open to Tunnel of Love with some plotting ahead of time. HMU @ inoctavo

Hawks | BNHA | OTA

[nanban]

CONCERT AND CANDY

Hawks is still totally fine with the carnival fare, though he's not sure he's digging the ongoing carnival itself. Do people seriously just live here forever like this? Man. It must get to be a lot, right? Well, okay, for another few weeks he can deal with this.

The cotton candy is a new thing. He should probably be more wary, but he isn't. He's more likely to choose the blue cotton candy. Find him perched somewhere (not exactly literally; he won't be high up out of reach, but he does have wings, after all). He looks incredibly amused, but not really fussed about anything going on.

"Hey, you wanna chill with me for a bit?"

[ lmk if you'd rather do the pink option! ]

TUNNEL OF LOVE

Maybe it's pink cotton candy, maybe it's just curiosity, boredom, who knows! In the end, Hawks finds his way to this dumb ride option. Tunnel of love? This isn't necessarily his style, but it's hard to get out of the line once he's in it, apparently.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," he says. But he's good-natured about it. It's just a ride, no big deal. (He's more suspicious of this than he lets on, because he's not an idiot, but he goes with it anyway.)

He's not terribly bothered by the pairing up thing, either. That's just the gimmick of the ride here. He gets it. It's easier to just get it over with. Luckily the boat thing is plenty big enough to accommodate his wings. It's cheesy, but once inside, it's shockingly not gross or anything.

"This is actually kinda nice, right?"

[ Romance/kissing/spicy interactions all welcome, characters of all genders welcome. Adults his age (23) and up only please. ]

HAUNTED HOUSE

Should he have known better after that other ride, and after the strength test thing? Probably, but what else is there to do but try out the other ride options? Unfortunately, the haunted house is a bit more perilous than the tunnel turned out to be (or maybe just differently so).

Hawks's monster transformation for October is a ghost. He's still visible. At least, he's mostly visible. He gives the ride operator an earful and gets some explanation, but it's not much of one. He's left half-corporeal, fading in and out of even his own sight.

Find this ghostly, irritated bird boy spectre pacing around off near the edge of the tents.

[ and hmu at boywonder for other plot ideas! ]

Tunnel of Something Alright

[helpdesk_hero]

David needed to learn not to eat this damn pink cotton candy, and definitely not to get swept up in the flow of bodies which would force him into line for this ride. But there he was, settling in next to Hawks, already humming along in anticipation of the music he remembered.

"It's very nice," he promised with a nod. "Beautiful and soothing. Not disney at all."

Kyle Broflovski | South Park (adult au) | OTA

[kyley_b]

Haunted House: Werewolves of Jersey

It's a transformation he's experienced before, but that makes it no less horrifying. The moon peeks out from behind the clouds and Kyle falls to his knees steps from the Haunted House's exit. He's not worried about the gashes the werewolf inside the ride had opened up along his skinny chest; all Kyle can feel is that oncoming change.

"Get out of here!" he warns you before he falls writhing to the ground. The sleeves of his shirt are torn off. His hair becomes rigid. Fangs and fur push their way through skin and gums, and at last Kyle howls and regains his feet.

He is a werewolf. With gelled hair and a lot of gold jewelry.

"Whaddya think YOU'RE lookin' at?" this Teen Wolf looking creature asks with an accent that is pure New Jersey.

It's possible to find this monster stalking through the nights, guzzling beer and starting fights with people if it isn't sufficiently entertained by the outdoor concerts.

During the days, you can spot Kyle wandering around looking like shit. Guilty shit.


Wildcard!

Whatever you like, I'll make it happen!

Wildcard Baby!

[extrasensory_problems]

Luckily when Carter goes to find Kyle to talk with he finds him during the day, and not when the Jersey Shore Werewolf is out in full force during the evening. He walks up on him and nods in greeting.

"Hey. You look like shit."

Which isn't an insult really because Carter also looks like shit, he has bags under his eyes, grim under his nails and the overall aura of someone who is having a rough time.

Sephiroth | OTA

[unkindled_madness]

I. SWORD!!

[Sephiroth was initially suspicious when he woke in the morning to find his beloved Masamune in his trailer. Replicated so perfectly, from the nearly 7-foot blade to the empty materia slots embedded in the hilt... It can only be the magic of the Ancient. Some sort of trick, or test? If he touches it, will he be subjected to some sort of hallucination involving his home world?

He contemplates it for a while, but in the end he can't resist it. He tells himself it's worth the risk, for the chance to be properly armed. He takes up the sword, and... it feels exactly the way it ought to feel. Nothing more.

Which means that a short time later, he can be seen outside training with it... on the roof of his trailer. The central clearing might have more room, but this way he doesn't have to be careful of anyone approaching, and not everyone is going to look up. He isn't here to put on a show, but it's good to have the weight of his sword in his hand again.]


II. Cotton Candy / Tunnel of Love
((CW: drugs of the cotton candy variety))

[After a month in this place, unable to subsist on anything but junk food, Sephiroth was at last persuaded to at least try cotton candy. He was not a fan, and he dumped most of the blue monstrosity in the trash before it began to take effect. Now, though? He's feeling quite relaxed. The carnival is not the usual assault on his senses, although he still wanders towards the quieter avenues in search of someplace that better suits his mood. Somewhere he can hear himself think, though he wouldn't mind a little company.

The Tunnel of Love... was a ride he scoffed at when he first saw it, earlier. But it's just a name, isn't it? There could be something pleasant about riding a little boat through a tunnel. He's been trying a lot of new things here and apart from the food, most of them haven't been as awful as he expected. Even the lewd noises from the ride's attendant only amuse him right now, instead of irritating him.

Are you the one he ushers onto the boat with Sephiroth? Have fun with tall, dark light, and handsome.]

((Sephiroth will only initiate platonic gestures of affection in the Tunnel of Love, but if your character wants to get romantic he might reciprocate. Make-outs only though!

Sephiroth also definitely burned some stuff this month, so your character is welcome to have noticed! And as always, you can hit me up at yinza for plotting.))

ii

[nanban]

Hawks isn't too fussed about doing this tunnel thing again. Bad decisions? He doesn't know her. It's a fairly harmless thing, as far as these islands go. The cotton candy is pretty harmless, too, especially after whatever the hell the last island was about. He likes junk food as a general rule anyway, so why not, right? And strangely, the chillest place to be that isn't the Temple seems to be the Tunnel of Love.

He just rolls his eyes and waves off the attendant's remarks this time around and climbs into the boat with Sephiroth. He's pretty sure he's seen Sephiroth around before; he's certainly recognisable. Hawks himself probably is too, since his bright red wings are pretty hard to miss, even if he himself isn't exactly tall or anything.

"Hey, am I imagining things, or were you like swinging a sword around on the rooftops recently?" he remarks, fairly off-hand.

Hawks has good eyesight and he does look up. Or rather, he flies around sometimes. Wouldn't want to get rusty, after all.

[ooc: since they haven't talked before I figure they could have an interesting discussion here and idk hold hands ]

IV. A Haunted Hulk (OTA, but likely of particular interest to Jennifer Walters)

[cute_hats]

"A Haunted House?!? This is totally freaking awesome!!!!"

Memories of the last month still linger, of course. She knows that this carnival is kinda messed up and likes to screw with people. There are lessons to be learned, but some of them are really mean. Molly had been okay with the mirror lessons, kind of, but the clowns in the big top had just been rude. There was no lesson there other than she didn't like clowns any more. Well. That and maybe she did like punching bad guys, but so what? Wasn't that what you were supposed to do to bad guys?

Anyways, here she was clambering into a cart to ride through a legit haunted house. Would it get mean too? Only one way to find out, but Molly Hayes was NOT gonna miss out on a Haunted House in a for real CARNIVAL because of some stupid mean clowns.

The ride started out super fun!!! Molly squealed in delight as the fake rubber stuff flew out of the dark and tried to jump scare her. But you had to do a lot better than that to jump scare Princess Powerful!!! She laughed, she screamed, she stuck her tongue out at the more cheesy stuff.

"Keanu Whoa....those spiders sure look super real now..." She leans on the edge of the cart and peers at them as they scuttle up the wall back to their shadows.

Then the cart jerks to a stop and the lights go up.

"Uh...what? Is this thing broken? HEY SOMEBODY!!! I THINK YOUR RIDE IS BUSTED...huh?"

There's a red lit coffin, but that's not what has her attention. It's the green tombstone, where a massive green hand has punched out of the earth. It makes clawing fists at the air, and then another hand rips out of the dirt and...the freaking HULK pulls himself out of the earth?!?. The Immortal Hulk roars, the volume of his voice shaking the very foundation of the entire haunted house.

"Uh..hey..I heard your...um...girlfriend hulk was...somewhere around here?"

His eyes, growing a bright, furious green center on her and he leaps right at her!! Molly flinches back, still in "this is just a ride" mode, but then he grabs her by the feet and starts slinging her around. Her eyes instinctively glow pink, so as he smashes her into various walls and house supports, she takes no real damage. She just holds her head and screams and pleads with him to stop, he is an Avenger, he's a super hero, RIGHT?!?, but the Hulk does NOT stop. He smashes her over and over and over, and then finally whips her up and throws her straight through the roof and several walls to land outside the Haunted House in a clump.

Molly picks herself up, shaking her head to try to clear it. She may be invincible, but that sure rattled her brain around a bit. From deep within the house, she hears one last roar, but the Hulk doesn't follow her, thankfully.

But then...then as she looks down at her hands, she feels herself growing furious. Just so mad that this carnival has attacked her multiple times. It's a bad guy and she wants TO PUNCH IT SO BADLY. Her hands go green, and her body starts to morph, growing bigger and bigger, muscles on muscles.

Molly-Hulk roars to the night sky, "HULK SMAASSHHHHH!!!," her eyes flaring green as she turns towards where the majority of the Carnival stands. It's time to SMASH SOME BAD GUYS!!!

As her rampage gets under way, it's hard not to notice the sounds of destruction and the military being called up to deal with the threat to the island. It's understandable that they just keep referring to "the Hulk" without realizing this is not the same one. In her transformed state, she sure looks a lot like the real one. And to the Incredible Molly Hulk, everyone here is a "bad guy" because she's not exactly in her right mind.

[nightschool]

— I. HIGH TEMPLE

[Another month trickles into the next, and soon after it does Kit shuts the book he'd been reading, stores it in his bag, and slides off the bed he'd claimed as his own among the trailers. Eyesores, all of them, and the worst offender poised at the center like a taunt. TEST YOUR STRENGTH. He's been annoyed with that high striker and what it represents since the very first day and won't be sorry to see it go.

Sure enough, when he steps down from his trailer he can see it in the distance: the High Temple, visible and waiting for inhabitants once more.]

Never thought I'd be this glad to see a place of worship.

[Remarked as he stretches an arm behind his head. Oh, he could retch at the idea of anyone mistakening him for a follower, but... he's been annoyed with the trailer beds, too. Uncomfortable. Given the choice, he'll return a temple bed.]

— II. TUNNEL OF LOVE

[Hair metal was certainly a discovery requiring an adjustment period on this island of mummers and painted mimes. Although the rock performers' booming and bone-rattling numbers during the night concerts is a far cry from a minstrel's delicate string-plucking, he must admit the boisterous energy appeals to his daemonic side. The thrum of the concert-goers' excitement is like a plucked chord of its own, seeping into his skin.

As the rides slowly wind down for another night, it's possible to follow the sounds of glass tinkling and softly lapping water to find Kit enjoying the distant rolling thunder of the late hour's musical acts. Stretched out length-wise on one of the swan's benches, he reclines with his feet comfortably folded over the seat's arm, gazing on the stars.

Intrepidly, he's found wine; the source of the clinking is a half-drunk bottle, rolling with the water's movements in the footwell. Kegs are all well and fine, but a little variety doesn't hurt, does it?]

— III. THE HAUNTED HOUSENING

[Kit would like to say it was bravery that led him into the haunted attraction's darkness (because surely he knows the depths of darkness intimately enough by now not to fear it), but more likely and more honestly, he must reconcile it was not for so valorous a reason. Rather, the flip side of the coin: an irrestible impulse to experience what others have after going through the house with a self-interest rooted in reckless weakness. Fearlessness of a foolish kind.

He knows the truth. And perhaps the power behind the house had known, too--and perhaps why the spirit, over all the others, had been drawn to him. Had touched with a graveyard's chill, turing his skin cold, rendering his form faded. A punishment and a warning. Be careful what you wish for. He'd wanted to experience a feeling and instead his reward is... nothing. Nothingness. Dulled sensations, muted warmth, wispy corporeality. So many times he'd thought he hated what it is to be a daemon--overflowing with constant, frenetic need and noise and impulse and desire--but the opposite of it, this greyscale, cored out emptiness, is infinitely worse than anything he could have envisioned for a trapped spirit.

To be drained of all means and purpose except watching is a unique feeling of insignificance. At least in life one's heart usually still beat to the rhythm to it. Sitting atop a picnic table, he listlessly eyeing the bags of cotton candy he can no longer touch, let alone use to inspire some manner of less risky feeling.

To no one and nothing in particular:]

It's almost All Soul's.

— IV. WILDCARD

[You know the drill. 🎃 It's almost Halloween, you crazy animals, maybe you wanna celebrate the spoopiest time of year with a wildcard for a 😈? IDK, I'm not your mom. (Daemon, I meant daemon, I was trying to be cute with emojis don't @ me and my bad humor.]