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đ»đđ€Ą
â THE CARNIVAL
â
. 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. Thereâs a toilet, but if you want a shower youâll 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.
â Ą. 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 isnât usually your thing. There are kegs of beer set up around the edges of the concert area and youâre 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, theyâre temporary. Thereâs a stand called Pirate Peteâs 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, youâll find that whenever you or someone else touches it youâll 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 âMomâ 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.
â ą. 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. âHubba hubba!â
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 otherwiseâŠ
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.
â Ł. HAUNTED HOUSE
CW: violence, blood
You might be on carnival island, but itâs still October. Itâs 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 youâre quick you can get out of the way and run for the exit.
If youâre not?
The vampireâs teeth sink into your veins. The ghostâs cold hand wraps around your heart. The werewolfâs claws tear your flesh.
Youâre lucky in that it doesnât 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.
Thatâs 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, heâll 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 ainât 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. Thereâs a toilet, but if you want a shower youâll 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!
â Ą. 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 isnât usually your thing. There are kegs of beer set up around the edges of the concert area and youâre 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, theyâre temporary. Thereâs a stand called Pirate Peteâs 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, youâll find that whenever you or someone else touches it youâll 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 âMomâ 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.
â ą. 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. âHubba hubba!âHe 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 otherwiseâŠ
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.
â Ł. HAUNTED HOUSE
CW: violence, blood
You might be on carnival island, but itâs still October. Itâs 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 youâre quick you can get out of the way and run for the exit.
If youâre not?
The vampireâs teeth sink into your veins. The ghostâs cold hand wraps around your heart. The werewolfâs claws tear your flesh.
Youâre lucky in that it doesnât 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.Thatâs 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, heâll 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 ainât 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 theyâve turned into. For example, a person turned vampire might talk about how they feel they drain other peopleâs energy with their problems, or that they feel drained by other peopleâs. 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? Itâs 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.
no subject
For a spur-of-the-moment idea, though, he's actually thinking this one might be pretty good. As far as his usual efforts go, at any rate. "Just give me one moment..."
There's a long, focused pause - then a flash of light, bright enough to cast the wagons around them in pale blue for an instant, like a bolt of lightning, and a chill that instantly rolls off his creation.
"How about taking a swing at this, instead?" he offers, now standing beside a roughly human-shaped pillar of ice. It's a bit jagged at the edges, and faceless, but he's no sculptor. Brittle and hollow, though, it should crumble nicely if she lands a hit with that hammer.
no subject
Turning to see his creation, at first she just makes a soft oh sound. Needless to say, itâs an extremely impressive display. She circles around it slowly, admiring its construction.
But itâs more than that. His choice of creation, forged in ice, is more apt than he could know. Even the featureless face serves as a worryingly perfect representation of an untelling and often unfathomable man.
It makes her falter. A residual sense of guilt. A sense that might not ever fully leave her.
She picks up the hammer and swings. Striking it in the middle, the ice sculpture breaks and shatters as pieces fall to the ground.
Setting down the hammer, she lightly puts an arm around Andersâ waist in a half-hug. âYouâre right, Anders, youâre always right and I should always listen to you. Thank you.â
no subject
He lets out a bright, exultant whoop as she shatters the statue, the ice exploding into lightly glowing, blue-white shards to litter the ground. They won't melt for some time, and though he could melt them with another wave of his hand, he leaves them be, for the moment. It's more satisfying, that way.
Not to mention, it's more than a little distracting when Chloe pulls him into that partial hug, a gesture he wasn't at all expecting. But it's not unwelcome. Since leaving the Circle behind, one of the few (very few) things he's missed about it was the casual, reassuring affection common among mages all forced to go without, for so much of their lives. So the sound of his reply is a little softer, less jovial than it might've been, otherwise. He sounds more like himself than the face he puts on, as he wraps his arm around her shoulders.
"Well, maybe not when I'm drunk. But, you're welcome."
no subject
"Making a person was an interesting choice," she comments. An obvious one, maybe. The source of such deep frustration and confusion could likely be deduced as stemming from an individual. But he could have made any sort of vague shape for the sake of smashing.
"What about you? Are you going to make something for yourself to whack into smithereens?" It's said with a playful sort of note, and a typical curiosity.
no subject
He would also strongly refute the idea that she could overstay her welcome, with a hug or otherwise, at any point, were he privy to that line of thought. But since he isn't, he assumes this is simply the part where casual affection is treated as something awkward moments after its initiation, as so often comes of these things. No matter.
"Well, every time I've found a woman trying to beat the life out of an inanimate object, it's been because of a person. Usually a man. Sometimes me," he offers with a shrug, and a smile that suggests she need not elaborate any further on that point.
He suggestion earns her an equally playful arch of his brow, as he considers the shards of ice at their feet. "I hadn't really thought about it. Should I?"
no subject
She looks at him sidelong, making a bit of a show of assessing him. "You? Really? I can't quite believe that." She leans against him a moment, trying not to go too overboard with her appreciation of all things Anders. While it seems to make him uncomfortable, appreciation of him comes easily.
"It's worth a try, even if just for the experience. Go on. Have some fun of your own." Her smile is gently encouraging.
no subject
It's far easier to ignore undeserved praise when it's only implied (and easy enough to write off as simple teasing). Anders elbows her gently in the side, when she leans against him, a playful nudge. "Oh, you can't tell just from looking at me? I'm quite the heartbreaker, you know."
And also incredibly dedicated to being an annoyance and an imposition, in the right company. But seeing as Chloe is not a Templar, she would find it hard to share that particular sentiment. Sharing in the joy of harmlessly destroying something inconsequential is much easier.
"If you insist. But you're going to want to stand back a step. Or a few."
no subject
She does another little lean into him before putting distance between them, giving plenty of room for him to do what he's going to do. Curious to see what sculpture he might make for himself, she looks to the empty space rather than directly at him. She doesn't want to put him off, after all.
no subject
So he doesn't really take notice of the small courtesy, as he starts to weave that same spell again - different shape, though. It does take a few moments, of course. Working without a proper focus is always harder, and the nature of casting the spell without a shape already there to conform to is far more complex. And, really, he's a bit indecisive, on top of it all, too.
He could just go with the trusty standard and make himself a Templar to smash. It's certainly tempting. But he isn't trying to be so predictable. No, this time there's room for a bit of creativity. When that blinding flash of ice and light appears, this time, it leaves behind the rough shape of an ogre (though necessarily only about a third the size of a real one).
"Darkspawn. Ugly things, aren't they?"
no subject
Examining his latest creation, her brow furrows. Ugly is a word she's hesitant to use as she doesn't know exactly what it is, and there's some strange allure to the grotesque. It intrigues her with its unknownness. And with the question of why he opted to create the creature that she may or may not ask.
"You have these in your world?" she asks, somewhat redundantly. It seems a better question than just asking what a Darkspawn is. As he's made it to smash it, there's a chance it's not a subject he'd want to delve into much.
no subject
He trails off with an equally dramatic shudder and a wordless noise of disgust.
"Then again, if I spent all my time living in filth and eating human flesh, I doubt I'd smell like an Antivan bathhouse, either!"
no subject
With a bow of her head, she holds the hammer out to him for the taking. "Go ahead. Let's see it shatter like the other one." Unsure of whether it's appropriate or not, she offers a little smile anyway.
no subject
He holds up a hand, shaking his head when she offers him the mallet.
"I've got a better idea." As he drops the dismissive gesture, his other hand begins to glow, and after another brief pause, he summons a rather simple yet explosively effective spell. Stonefist is largely what it sounds like: a hefty stone fist materializes out of thin air, as he thrusts his arm forward, and is launched at his latest ice sculpture. When it strikes, the ice shatters again, in a shower of frosty mist and glittering shards. Vastly more satisfying than the hammer, in his opinion.
no subject
The mallet is set down on the ground, Chloe resting a hand atop the handle as she watches Anders work his literal magic. Simple as it might be to him, it definitely isn't to her. Awe and curiosity ever present, she goes to step forward to take a closer look before catching herself.
The sculpture's explosion is met with applause and her returning to his side. "How was it for you? Did it feel good?"
no subject
Burning things is still more satisfying, he'd say. But this has its appeal.
"As long as you enjoyed it, that's what matters."
no subject
With a warm, soft smile on her face, she looks contemplative. Perhaps a little hesitant. The reason for the latter reveals itself as she goes in for a real hug. âI did.â Two small words that say a lot. Not entirely guilt free, but sheâs more at peace than when he found her. âThank you, Anders. I hope I can do something for you one day.â
no subject
Anders' own smile falters when she hugs him - but not because it's unwelcome. He's only stiff and awkward for a second, before he leans down into the hug, arms going around her back.
"More than you have, already? Pah." His tone is meant to be dismissive, cheerful, but there's a waver in it that he can't quite mask.