![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
👻🎃🤡
✖ 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.
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.
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.
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.
The kind of jams that last all night.
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.
haunted house
"Did something attack you?"
He isn't remotely alarmed; in fact, his interest is piqued by the possibility of something to fight. His skills are wasted on most of the 'challenges' the Ancient likes to set for them. Give him a little actual danger for once.
no subject
Connor turns to see Sephiroth approaching, even before he speaks; he can smell the warm blood pumping through the other's veins, hear his heartbeat in a much more visceral way than his normal android senses would allow for. This time it isn't simply data to be taken in and processed; Sephiroth's mere presence makes Connor lick his lips, his tongue running over the pointed tips of his newly-sharpened and serrated teeth. There's a hollowness in his core, an empty panging thirst needing to be slaked. His eyes focus on Sephiroth, calculating and preconstructing his own optimal attack strategies. It's only when Sephiroth questions him that he shakes his head, regaining his wits- though the hunger is still ever-present.
"Uhm, yeah, I think so?" He tries to smile, but quickly thinks better of it, his teeth poking at his lips. "One of the props on the ride must have come loose. It fell on me and I guess I was injured. What a coincidence, right?" He pulls his hand away from his neck to look at the blue thirium coating his fingers, revealing the two pinprick holes resembling a snake bite left behind. He licks his lips again because thirium is just as tantalizing as biological blood, and ignoring Sephiroth now, he brings his fingers to his lips to lick the substance off them.
no subject
But he does raise his eyebrows at the explanation, once he catches sight of the wound. That kind of deep bite mark pattern, just from something falling on him? He wonders why someone would lie about it.
"Yes. That certainly would be an impressive coincidence," he says skeptically, watching the man lick his fingers. That behavior does seem a little abnormal. "Has your blood always been that color?"
no subject
"Isn't it? Strangest thing." His fingers are twitching, flexing with his almost uncontrollable desire to wrap them around Sephiroth's neck and hold him down. "Yeah, always. It always has been." He gives a nervous little chuckle, obviously staring now at the pulse point under Sephiroth's jaw. "What color is yours I wonder, hmm?"
no subject
"You wouldn't be the first to wonder. I don't bleed easily."
That's as much of a warning as he's going to offer. He could draw attention to the machete tucked into his belt, but he doesn't. His own posture is still--maybe unnaturally so. He's used to his mere presence being intimidating enough to dissuade all but the very stupid or very determined, and he forgets that a lot of that is tied to a reputation he doesn't have here.
no subject
"That sounds like a challenge." His LED spins blood-red as he smiles widely at Sephiroth, displaying his own mouthful of weaponry as he moves closer, his stance having the easy confidence of a predator sizing up its prey.
no subject
...still, he might at least be a more worthy fight than those mantises. If he's sturdier than a human, then maybe Sephiroth won't have to hold back.
"Did it? Then you had best be prepared for one."
no subject
If it's possible for Connor's smile to grow even wider, it does. Then he makes his move based on his preconstructions with preternatural speed, feinting right then going left instead, leaping into the air and aiming his feet towards Sephiroth's chest. He's strong already, but it's enhanced with his transformation, adding extra power to the ferocious kick. A dark chuckle escapes him at the thought that he's tenderizing his meat- if he can land this kick.
If not for this terrible craving, Connor wouldn't mind hanging onto these new abilities; they could certainly come in handy if he ever returns to Detroit. Well, the craving and maybe the guilt, but that was there long before he acquired these skills.
no subject
He still doesn't draw the machete, content for now to invite attack and see what happens. He hasn't stepped out of range, either, giving the impression Connor could easily turn and strike him.
"You'll have to be quicker than that."
no subject
Snarling, he whips around, taking only a moment to regain his bearings and zero in once more on his target. This time, he charges him head on, hoping to tackle the other man to the ground. If he can pin him there, it will take less than a second to sink his teeth into the tender flesh of his neck, indulge himself in the hot scent of blood as it gushes into his mouth. The blood lust is driving him into a frenzied rage now, mistakes bound to happen as his preconstructions give way to the scarlet haze of hunger.
Gnashing his teeth and growling low in his throat, his fingers are like claws as they attempt to rip into Sephiroth, seeking to tear him apart so he can feast on his hot, beating heart.
no subject
Connor's nails rake into his forearm, but Sephiroth ignores it and shoves forward with his own strength, aiming to throw the other man off balance.
no subject
He stumbles backward, tripping over his own feet, but his gyroscope is unable to compensate so quickly as he hits the ground hard. He scowls up at Sephiroth, and now it isn't even about his insatiable, unfulfilled hunger. That's pushed aside to make way for his all-consuming rage, his singular desire to see this man on his knees. With a roar, he shatters all his preconstructions, the coding falling away as he untangles himself and works to regain his footing, intent on rushing Sephiroth again in a dervish of teeth and claws and pummeling fists and kicking, smashing feet.
no subject
One of those kicks does land successfully, and Sephiroth stumbles back. As he starts to recover, he draws the machete-- it doesn't have the long reach of his usual weapon, but if Connor retains any sense of self-preservation, it should give him pause.
no subject
Finally, finally one of his blows lands, but before he can even feel satisfaction Sephiroth has drawn his wicked-looking blade. Connor stops to regroup, fists clenched at his sides, assessing this new development. Even his rage-soaked processor understands that this changes things, that the situation has suddenly become much more of a personal threat. This isn't about making a meal of Sephiroth anymore; Connor is acutely aware that he himself is now in danger. He bites his lower lip, taking a step back, his eyes flicking between the blade and Sephiroth's face.
There are a lot of people at this carnival, a lot of weaker, unsuspecting people who would make for much easier prey. His LED pulses a dull red and his lip curls as he hisses at Sephiroth angrily, and if not for his lack of a tail whipping back and forth, he would look remarkably like a puffed-up cat, hackles raised and fur standing on end. His eyes finally meet and hold steady with Sephiroth's, and for the first time there is a shadow of fear behind the fury.
With a last, lingering look at the blade, Connor growls at him, showing his teeth, and then he backs away at last, keeping Sephiroth in his sights as he retreats.
no subject
His first instinct is to let him go. Connor is not his enemy nor a significant threat to him, and Sephiroth has no vested interest in doing him harm. He recognizes, of course, that the other man still presents a danger to others... but the people here aren't his responsibility. They live on the Ancient's isle, and they facilitate her plans for the Travellers. The consequences are theirs to accept.
However... there are a handful of people whom Sephiroth has begun to consider allies, and he doesn't know their present location. Even if most of them can likely handle themselves, it wouldn't do if he unwittingly drove Connor into one of their paths.
Sephiroth sheathes the machete and straightens. He waits for Connor to break his gaze or turn a corner, then follows at a distance. He only intends to scan the nearby crowds, to ensure Connor's next target is no one he gives a damn about.
no subject
Besides. He knows of at least one person he can get close enough to bite before she realizes what's happening. She trusts him. They're friends. He could probably even ask her and she'd be willing to accommodate his blood lust.
Slinking into the shadows and (ideally) letting the darkness conceal his movements, he makes his way back to the caravans. He knows which one is Chloe's. He knows she'll welcome him.
no subject
Sephiroth does lose track of Connor for a time, but only after ascertaining his general direction. He can make an educated guess, based on that shared LED indicator, and he catches sight of Connor again as he's approaching Chloe's trailer. That destination means an intervention. He doesn't blend in so well in the dark himself, his hair and his eyes catching any available light, but it's his intention now to make his presence known.
"...I think you'll regret that."
no subject
"Chloe is my friend. She will help me!" It comes out as more of a hiss, then he turns again to pound on Chloe's door, ignoring Sephiroth in his desperation. If Chloe invites him inside, will there be anything Sephiroth can do? Vampires need to be invited in, and he knows Chloe trusts him enough to do so willingly.
"Chloe!" he shouts, knocking again. "Chloe! It's me, Connor! Let me in!" Is there no one inside? Connor is beginning to despair, his arms crossing over his stomach to hold himself, to soothe the raging emptiness inside him. If he's not satiated soon, what will happen to him?
no subject
Sephiroth takes a few steps closer.
"In what manner do you expect her to assist you?" These things the islands inflict on them often do require help from others, but the necessary actions aren't always immediately apparent. One's first instinct isn't always the correct choice.
no subject
"I don't know! I don't know."
He starts rocking to and fro, his hands still covering his face. A few minutes ago he'd wanted to feed off of her, but now he feels hopeless and empty, weak as a newborn. Who would help him if Chloe wouldn't, or couldn't? He was so hungry, desperate, but he'd used up what precious little energy he'd had uselessly attacking Sephiroth, and now he's just tired. Tired and unhappy and starving.
"Go away. Just go away, leave me alone."
no subject
"...the locals are no concern of mine. But I will hear it should she scream."
'Attack someone else' is still the suggestion, but he doesn't really want to stand around playing watchdog either. He'll return to his trailer momentarily.
no subject
"Why do you care? What is Chloe to you?"
He does perk up a little when he realizes Sephiroth won't stop him from preying on the locals at least.
no subject
But she has shown herself trustworthy, and she is more than an acquaintance.
no subject
"She is my friend. I...care? About her." It's hard for him to say right now, when his processor is still addled with the need to stalk, to hunt, to consume. He looks up at Sephiroth again, a kindling of hope in his eyes.
"I'm so hungry. Ravenous. Please, I'll only take a little, hardly worth noticing. Just to take the edge off. Then I'll find someone else. But I can't go on like this. I'm begging you, please."
no subject
It doesn't encourage him to warm to the request. He's given blood more times than he can count. Always only a little, hardly worth noticing. Except he did notice, all those little demands made of his person adding up until he realized he could start rejecting them. He's not inclined to be generous with himself now.
"Perhaps I can find you a rat," he proposes instead, his voice flat.
(no subject)
(no subject)