👻🎃🤡

[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

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?"

[neverwither]

Although she's giggling at the bump, Chloe offers her own apology at the same time Malcolm does. Which makes her giggle more because they're the sorry twins speaking over each other. "I'm fine. I'm great. Don't worry. Are you alright?"

As everyone and the world itself seems to be a-okay, Chloe takes both his hands like they've known each other for years and it's a totally acceptable thing to be doing. "Are you having the best time?" Because Chloe is having the best time. So much so that she gives his hands an enthusiastic little squeeze and breaks into a thousand watt smile. "Would you like to dance with me?"

[prodigalmess]

"Yeah, I'm... I'm good." He's not lying. That's rare. Usually when he says he's fine, he's lying, but he really feels okay right now. Malcolm's glad for the music and being able to let go, even if there's still a little voice in the back of his head that's warning him to stay on his guard. He silences the voice for now.

Chloe's touch is warm, like a real person's, and not cold like he might expect an android to be. "Sure," he replies, grinning back. Malcolm is a surprisingly good dancer, and he enjoys it.

[neverwither]

Chloe continues to smile as though 'good' is equivalent to him saying he's having the single most glorious experience of his life. It's truly a delight to hear and see that others are doing well. Especially when they're as understanding and interesting and pleasant as Malcolm is.

Without the self-consciousness to temper her, how impressed she is at Malcolm's dance moves is clear on her face. At one point she releases his hands so she can take a step back, watch and cheer him on. The current song coming to an end, her enthusiasm for, well, everything right now spills over into her throwing her arms around him.

"That? Was splendid! Have you had lessons or is it just natural talent?" It's a real question as much as it is a compliment. "Oh! Have you met Carter? He dances. We did a ballet lift one time!"

[prodigalmess]

Chloe's so kind to him that he can't help but feel a warmth towards her. Maybe she's programmed to be that way, but he's not thinking about that right now. He's only thinking that she's a friend and that he's glad to be spending this time with her.

"I took ballet for about five years as a kid," Malcolm confesses, wrapping his arms around her as well. "I don't think I've met Carter though."

WILDCARD (aka bubble waffle cone)

[extrasensory_problems]

About twenty minutes after their text conversation via the scrywatch Carter finds Chloe near the little circle of caravans that serve as their accommodations this month and last. He has a bubble waffle cone that is filled with chocolate ice cream and does indeed have mini marshmallows on top.
As he approaches her he gives her a soft, yet nervous smile.

"Special delivery." He says and hands her the treat.

[neverwither]

Her eyes light up as she stares down at the bubble waffle cone that’s now in her hands. “You really did bring one.” It’s not that she doubts Carter’s kindness or that his offer had been a sincere one. It’s just a lingering sense of surprise at actually having a thoughtful treat brought to her.

She doesn’t dive into it straight away. There’s an important matter to tend to first. Very careful not to splodge ice cream on him, she puts her arms around Carter in a warm hug. Because he doesn’t need to be nervous. Because she isn’t so nervous of showing physical affection now (for reasons that extend beyond any consumption of cotton candy).

“Are you okay?” she asks again, now it isn’t over the network.

[extrasensory_problems]

"Of course I brought one." He says, "It's the least I could do for you."

When she hugs him he feels a bit of his nervousness fall away, not the guilt mind you because that will probably stick around with him for a nice long time, but he at least no longer feels like he's going to actively throw up. He hugs her back but then has to pause when she asks him again how he is and because it's Chloe he find he can't really lie.

"Honestly? No. Not at all."

[neverwither]

She breaks the hug only so she can look at him. The arm that isn't holding onto the waffle cone goes around his waist to continuing offering some contact, should it be wanted. If she should be anxious in his presence, she isn't. Well, not in terms of what happened with his younger self or his latent capabilities. Her worries are about Carter himself.

"We can talk, if you like? Or just sit. We can even share the waffle cone." She gives him a small smile that says that whatever works for him right now is perfectly fine.

[extrasensory_problems]

He manages a small smile and motions at the cone, "No thanks. That's all for you."

"But yeah let's sit for a bit." He says and points at a pair of random milk crates someone has dragged over near the fire pit to serve as stools. He pulls them a little closer to one another and sits down, wanting to stay close to her. They sit in silence for a little bit and then finally he starts to talk.

"I feel awful. I did the one thing that scares me the most, I lost control. To the point where I broke the damn ferris wheel....If Quentin hadn't been around I might have done worse." He looks up at her, his eyes terrified.

"I could have hurt you, I could have hurt a bunch of people."

test your strength!

[detectivemiracle]

The sound is what draws Chloe out of her little trailer. Sure, the bell goes off a couple of times, but the repetitive nature of the bangs of the mallet suggest that it's - yep, it's one person, just hitting the thing over and over again.

Huh.

Chloe shoves her hands in her pockets as she watches the android who shares her name. Her brow is a little furrowed, but not in annoyance or anger. Mostly it's - concern.

"Feel free to tell me off if it's none of my business, but - is there something you'd like to talk about?" she offers during a lull.

[neverwither]

She turns to look at detective Chloe, face expressionless. Then she at least realises that silently wielding the mallet might not be the most approachable sight and so she sets it down. Probably better to avoid giving the cop the idea an unstable android might go running rampant.

The android gives herself a moment and finds something suitable to say.

"It's kind of you to offer. If I'm honest... I'm not even sure how. I don't know how to feel like this."

[detectivemiracle]

“Well…” Chloe crosses her arms over her chest, assessing the situation. “You’re handling it okay as far as I can tell.” To be fair, her experience with people who maybe aren’t human and can’t deal well with human emotions is basically… Maze. Who is a demon, and traditionally lashes out in pretty nasty ways when she can’t deal. So banging on the strength game is small beans.

“But talking can sometimes help, too. Or, so I hear.” She offers the android a faint smile.

[neverwither]

She smiles a little, appreciative of and reassured by the assessment she's doing okay. She isn't completely convinced it feels okay, but maybe an outside perspective is better than her own. It's not as though she's at her most logical right now. Maybe she won't ever be that logical again. Or maybe she never was. The rawness of it makes it all... rather confused.

But Chloe makes a good offer. She is a cop, and a cop who's involved with supernatural entities, so no doubt she's had plenty of... unique experiences. Maybe she won't come across as even more of a weird, creepy android to her.

"I'm not sure how much sense anything might make so please do ask about anything you need to..." she starts softly. It's a fair point to be made as well as a moment of stalling. "Where I'm from, androids are able to break their programming. It allows them to feel, to think for themselves... To not be beholden to someone else's design... I broke what remained of mine."

[detectivemiracle]

Chloe doesn’t know anything about robots, sentient or otherwise. Nor does she know anything about programming. But what the other Chloe says does strike a chord with her, in a way.

“You wanted free will,” she says, trying to put into words the way she can relate. “Makes sense.” She has no idea what it means to be an android, but she does know the helpless feeling that comes with the belief that she has no control over her life or actions.

test your strength

[mewnifestos]

If there's one thing Anders knows well, it's denying certain, unfortunate feelings - and the explosive aftermath that can, on occasion, result from such a shallow burial of volatile things. (Not that he's ever lost control like that; oh no, of course not.) But the last person he'd expect to find losing such tenuous control is Chloe.

The sound of that hammering is enough to bring him around, though he hides between wagons, at first. A noise that gives the impression of violence before its source is even seen is not one to approach incautiously. When he recognizes her, though, apparently giving her all to break the bloody thing (not an unsympathetic thought, on his part), Anders can't help but balk.

"Chloe?" For once not followed by some sarcastic remark to break the tension.

[neverwither]

Swing coming to a stop in mid air, Chloe looks frozen in place for a second. Then she hastily - but not without some purposeful display of care - puts the mallet down. Hands lace together behind her back, like a child who's been caught doing something they shouldn't but will try to convince otherwise.

She fully expected a witty little piece of banter from him. The lack of it makes a world already askew tilt just that bit more. Of course he's going to be wary. Who wouldn't be of someone beating ten shades of hell out of the game, let alone some being called an 'android'?

"It's alright. I'm not... I mean... You don't have to be worried." She hasn't succumbed to any violent island magic, nor the blood summoned forces he had warned her of before.

[mewnifestos]

"Oh, well, in that case. By all means, don't stop on my account." He spares a sideways glance for the battered machine in question, the lines of his frown visible again for one passing instant. But it fades again quickly as he strolls over to join her, quickly masking his surprise as he recognizes her discomfort. (The worry is a little harder to downplay, as rare a thing as it is that it should break through his facade. Still, he tries.)

"Although, if you're looking for something a little more satisfying to smash, I might be able to help you with that." He doesn't ask why she would want to, and with some terrible fugue of mind-altering magics ruled out, he doesn't intend to. That's her business. Nor will he discourage her from her catharsis, no matter how startling it is to see someone like Chloe enacting it so. There are certainly worse things he could have stumbled upon her doing, and far less understandable.

[neverwither]

"I didn't mean to alarm you," she informs him guiltily. There's enough about her that could be unsettling without adding this sort of behaviour into the mix. A factor she should have considered prior. Only she didn't. She had the feeling, the impulse, and went with it. A trait to perhaps be mindful of now. Or perhaps it's nothing more than a passing moment.

"How do you mean?" Is she curious? Yes. Is she still looking for something to smash? Unclear. Part of her says definitely. Part of her says it's now been done and should cease before it leads to anything else. "I really don't want to trouble you, Anders." In any sense of the word.

[mewnifestos]

"Me? What? No. Hardly," Anders scoffs, flapping a hand dismissively at her and shaking his head. Alarmed is such a strong word. And he wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea, anyway. She's not frightening (the entire opposite, really). If he was worried at all, he was worried for her - but that's beside the point, now.

Seizing on the idea of doing something a little more destructive, Anders grins.

"Come on. You're not troubling. And this'll be a lot more fun than beating on some dumb old broken... thing. Just - turn around for a moment?" It'll be more dramatic that way.

concert & candy

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth has had some of the blue cotton candy, himself, which makes him not quite so excited about the entire experience, but much more at ease with it. He's wading through the concert crowd, content enough with the music but preferring to find someplace calmer, when he comes across Chloe. It seems like a fortuitous encounter; she's exactly the sort of person to have an interesting conversation with. He may not fully grasp her meaning, but it's intriguing.]

Have you not been yourself?

[neverwither]

( Sephiroth! Already Chloe is grinning at the sight of her I'm-sorry-but-you're-my-friend-whether-you-like-it-or-not. Somewhere in the back of her happily hazy mind, she's aware that physical contact with him isn't likely to go down that well. Unlike usual, it's not a potent enough force to actually stop her from initiating it. She takes both of his hands, holding them in her own as she stands before him. )

I broke my programming.

( This... probably doesn't answer the question or shed much light on anything. But she gazes at him all beatific anyway. She thinks, in some way, he understands. Or can relate. Something like that. )

[unkindled_madness]

Oh.

[He is briefly distracted by the hand-holding, though he doesn't fight it. Has he ever actually held hands with someone before? He isn't even wearing gloves at the moment, and it's an odd sensation. He wonders if her hands feel the same way human hands would.]

I would have thought a programming error would present a problem for you.

[Perhaps the robot equivalent of being ill? But she seems quite happy about it.]

[neverwither]

( Chloe’s hands don’t have anything glaringly out of place; the temperature matches that of a human and her skin is soft. Distantly, she’s surprised he hasn’t immediately pulled away and reprimanded her. Mostly, she just likes the contact. The chance to show others her affection. )

No. It’s more than just an error. It’s no longer having to think the way I thought or feel the way I felt. Having ideas that aren’t really yours needling at your head and wondering when you’re going to break… It’s being free.