👻🎃🤡

[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

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?)

[quire]

"Gah," he mutters. Clenching up around his tummy when poked. His eyes and mouth feel parched, like he's waking up with a not-insignificant hangover and Quentin's unpleasant when he wakes up on the best of days.

"Whaaat..." he whines. "Where the hell are we? Can I get a Redbull yet?"

(ooc: sure!)

[gravity_grrl]

"You fell asleep getting a butt load of temporary tattoos." Roxy explains and offers him a sip of her beer, she then motions at the 'COLD HEARTED' portion of his tattoo.

"You a big fan of Paula Abdul or something?"

[quire]

"Oh," grumble grumble. "Yeah. Huge. Rush Rush is responsible for Keanu's whole career." He rubs his dry eyes and sits up. Flinching at the unexpected sight of something so vast and elaborate scrawled across his boney chest.

"Whoa. That's so extra. Was this my idea?" he cranes his head this way and that to get a better look at the work from someone else's point-of-view.

[gravity_grrl]

"Huhn," She says, "You know I was just telling David that Keanu is on my list of celebrity crushes."

Roxy reaches over and grabs a little hand held mirror that is sitting on Pete's tattoo area, handing it to Quentin so he can look at his new tattoo.

"I'm gonna saaaaay yes. Seeing how you have a giant banner on your chest professing your adoration for your boyfriend. SO cute by the way."

[quire]

"Of course he is, he's a saint in human flesh," he says like it's a decided fact.

Clambering off the table he's groggy enough that he's unsteady on his feet a moment as he runs his hands down his chest and winces a little. Is it supposed to hurt? Maybe he's just achey from being hungover. Whatever the issue he doesn't give it much consideration.

"Shut upppp," he scowls at her sarcastic fawning. "Maybe it'll win me blowjob points or something." Ever the optimist. "You said temporary, right? Like a couple days? A week? What are we talking about? And where the hell is my shirt?" Living with the consequences of his actions is one thing but having to walk around like this for all to see is a punishment of a different sort.

[gravity_grrl]

"A saint with a great ass."

She raises an eyebrow at him, "Didn't think you needed to win blowjob points with Kyle but sure, maybe you'll get extra ones for this. I'm pretty sure it's temporary, that's what the sign says and as for your shirt, I dunno. I just got here and saw you passed out and thought that I should check to make sure you weren't dead."

She leans against one of the walls of the stand, smiling. "By the way, you're lucky I'm a sweet person and didn't draw a dick on your forehead while you were passed out."

sugar high

[detectivemiracle]

Chloe has eaten her fair share of the blue cotton candy this evening, so when a stranger slings an arm around her shoulders, she doesn't stiffen and try to get away, which is what she'd normally do. No, she just sort of glances at the stranger, a little confused as to why she's being addressed but also not worried about it.

"It is really cute," she concedes. "But what would I do with it?"

[quire]

"Whatever the hell you want! That's future you's problem. Let's get a giant rabbit and then worry about it's use case scenarios," he bargains. If he's being a little excessively persuasive he doesn't know it. The less out of sorts he feels the more his penchant for manipulating people may be seeping out at the seems, but all he's noticed is how this cotton candy has gone to his head in the best kind of way.

"Those cans? The bottom middle one is bolted down. Or it was...." he mutters

After rifling through his pockets he slaps his tickets on the carnie's table. "She wants a shot! Three! Three shots!" he insists until they've been granted their ammunition. "Fuz-zee. Bun-ee. Fuz-zee. Bun-ee," he chants like he's front row at a kegger.

[detectivemiracle]

Maybe this guy is being extra persuasive. Maybe Chloe is just extra persuadable in her current, altered state. Her inhibitions have been thoroughly lowered, and she sees no reason to argue with his logic - even if he is a stranger.

She picks up the air rifle, squinting at the cans. He's right - the middle one does appear to be bolted down. Well, that's easy enough to avoid. And Chloe is a good shot. Ping. One down. Ping. Ping.

"All those hours at the range clearly paid off," she jokes, snorting a little at herself. Hey, she thinks she's hilarious.

[quire]

"Wooooo!" Quentin gloats to the man running this stall every time she pings down another bottle. Their carnie friend looks less than impressed with his antics but Quentin takes no notice.

"Fuh.Zee.Bun.Ee." he points at that giant rabbit prize and hands it over. Maybe as much because he just wants the pink haired kid to shut up just as much as Chloe actually won it.

He whirls around with the rabbit and beams at her. "I know right?! I didn't even have to help you! I had to help the last like seven people and I think our carnie friend here is getting suspicious when I say I'm a good luck charm, but YOU! You didn't even need my help! Carry your rabbit proudly, m'am."

[detectivemiracle]

Chloe has to giggle as the stuffed rabbit is handed to her. His enthusiasm is pretty infectious, really.

"I'm a cop back home, I don't want to get rusty or anything," she jokes, giving the rabbit a little squeeze. Trixie would love it. "I'm Chloe, by the way. Chloe Decker."

[quire]

And if she says that to anyone who knows him they're going to think she met someone entirely. Without the help of whatever's in that cotton candy his enthusiasm errs towards being completely contrarian— a fry cry from whatever happy place he's landed in now.

"A cop!?" His face screw up in a look of confusion. "You can't be a cop there's no stick up your ass," he decides, and seems to think that statement is irrefutably complementary.

He stuffs another wad of pink cotton candy in his mouth. "Chloe. Did you know there's a robot here name Chloe? She's pretty chill too. Maybe it's a Chloe thing. Which is weird cause it hits like a stuck-up girl name but neither of you are. And trust me. I know a lot of stuck-up girls." That little tangent almost makes him forget his own introduction. Almost. But ultimately Quentin never forgets himself.

"I'm Quentin. Quire. Or Kid Omega if you want. I'm cool with any of them. Is that your first win of the day?" he asks, pointing at the rabbit.

[detectivemiracle]

"Some people might disagree with you about whether I have a stick up my ass," Chloe says with a faint snort. Yet another thing she... probably wouldn't say if she was sober. She knows she's the "responsible adult" in most of her relationships - she's embraced the role.

"And I've met Chloe - she's very nice. And it's nice to meet you, Quentin."

Even if he's bouncing around from topic to topic like a ping pong ball.

"This is my first win today," she emphasizes. She's maybe collected a few other prizes since they've been here.

Post Ink.

[kyley_b]

Kyle has inherited a few things from his mother: red hair, his nose, and a voice that can cut through a crowd as easily as a slap-chop through vegetables. (Which is to say: brutally, with lots of damage.)

Which is why it's easy for Quentin to hear a strident call of, "HEY, Q!" in spite of all the noise of the carnival.

Kyle shoulders his way through the crowd and wraps hours arms around his boyfriend, lifting him off of his feet and frenching him shamelessly.

Kyle is... different. Hairier, for one thing. Fanged. But more than that is his fucking hair: gelled to death. His shirtsleeves have been torn off and he is wearing enough gold jewelry to open a pawn shop with.

Quentin's mild mannered (well, -ish) boyfriend has been replaced by a lycanthrope Kyley B, fresh from the Jersey Shore.

Finally setting him down, Kyle peers at the ink peeking out on Quentin's skin. "Yo, the fuck is that?"

[quire]

he can't think of a time when he's ever heard Kyle's voice get quite that loud and insistent. But it is, without a doubt, Kyle. He whirls around to find the man in question amongst the crowd but doesn't make a complete loop in time to keep from being swept up by those incoming arms.

To say he's surprised to find Kyle's tongue almost immediately in his mouth is something of an understatement, but it's not one Quentin's sure he minds. He's still trying to decide how he feels about a PDA like this when he finally gets the chance to take in the sight of Kyle.

How quickly he's distracted.

"Yo?" he slow blinks and holds Kyle out at the shoulders where he can see him. "Forget that. What is this? What am I looking at? Where are your sleeves?"

[kyley_b]

"Sleeves hide the sick gains, baby," is Kyle's reply as he flexes. Then he pulls Quentin in again, ducking down to nibble at his neck.

"Fuck, you are the hottest bitch on this island. C'mon, you wanna ride the rollercoaster and I'll give you a handy? Livin' dangerously, am I right?"

[quire]

Quentin continues to blink with a kind of stunned silence. It feels like Kyle isn't speaking English or something.

"Sick gains? Who the fuck are you and what did you do with my boyfriend? What is in your hair," he squawks when when he finds himself clinging to Kyle to stay up right and grabs hold of a handful of the crispiest locks. "I mean, yes, I do want a handy on the rollercoaster but also what the fuck Kyle? What the fuck happened to you? Did another clown have something to do with this??"

[kyley_b]

"Don't touch the hair, babe," Kyle says as he firmly takes Quentin's wrist, pulling his hand away.

"I got bit by a big fuckin werewolf in the Haunted House, so what? What the fuck YOU been up to, you get ink or somethin?" As he tries to peer at Quentin's chest. "Lemme see."

[quire]

He looks stunned in a way that's both surprised and offended when Kyle removes his hands from his hair.

He bats those hands away in an impatient little fit and folds his arms petulantly over his chest. He is unsettled by this change in Kyle, but he also knows better than to pass up a perfect opportunity to overshadow something he'd rather not expose so readily.

"Nevermind that! Don't so what me! Was it an Italian werewolf? This is not good Kyle! Oh God, I can already hear the Wolverine comparisons— how could you let this happen!" he whines.

actually

[kyley_b]

((OOC: actually nah fam it's almost nov and I have plans for the next log lol))

Re: actually

[quire]

LOL fair. XD

Re: actually

[kyley_b]

MOOHOOHAHA

Re: actually

[quire]

im terrified and excited.