estoria | //EVENT025.EXE

Entry tags:

//EVENT025.EXE

Who: Everyone who chooses to go to the fun, new alien carnival (and those who don't, but end up there anyway)
When: OOC: 1/26 - 1/30 ; IC: 5/13 - 5/15
Where: Entertainment District, Temporary Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk
What: The circus is in town! Temporarily. Everything is fine.
Rating/Warning: PG-13 for violence and some scary situations; please let the mods know if the rating needs to go up or the log needs to be locked!

//event025.EXE

Bright lights! An abundance of color! A cacophony of laughter and delighted (?) shrieks! Welcome, everyone, to the carnival! Enough of those nonsense protein shakes and that hoity-toity recycling; it's time to let loose, have some fun, and live a little! No judgment will be allowed today, not when everyone’s dressed up in ridiculous costumes and eating those unnecessarily huge turkey legs (it... is turkey, right?). For you see, CERES has invited the Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk (they hail from a different planet, but here's a hint: the h is silent) to bring some joy to the colonists. This is a safe place to let your inner wild child out, really. Definitely safe. Promise.

Yet for those who are a little less easily convinced to follow the sounds of laughter and amusement (bless your sensible hearts), they will find themselves grabbed and forcibly dragged by a pair of friendly souls in matching costumes. Everyone should be able to enjoy the festivities, don’t you think? Can’t have them missing out on all this jolly good, innocent fun!

The Public Announcement System crackles with... well, a fit of coughing first. But then a gravelly voice speaks! It seems the ringmaster has an announcement for you all. What joyous news can he bring?

Listen... I know that we’re supposed to keep these idiots entertained for at least another day or two but the machinery’s starting to complain. I think I heard the gates of the petting zoo groan – they’re on their last legs.

... Wait, this isn’t the direct line

Oh.

Ohohoho!! Have a great time, everyone! Everything is perfectly fine!

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ 1100 ] Come one, come all!! There’s quite a large amount of people here, isn’t there? You’ll find yourself tugged this way and that – up until you get dragged right into a changing booth. The helpful attendant meets you with a worryingly large grin – how is her face not breaking? – before pushing you right through the curtain. Then you’ll be given your choice of one of these lovely garments to change into. Look, one of them has to match your skintone, right? Don’t be picky about it! You also have... 90 seconds to figure out how to wear it before you’re tossed out into the middle of the crowd again. Have a good festival!

If you’re not willing to put on the outfits though, that’s fine. Instead, they’ll top you off with a cape and crown, shoving you out onto a... stage? Your adoring public cheers for you, yells your name, and throws confetti in your honor! Then a jester appears again, announcing your grand title:

The Ugliest in All of Cerealia.

Don't worry, that's just your introduction to the carnival; enjoy the rest of your time here! (They may or may not have given you back your clothing.)

PHASE II

[ 1600 ] Do you hear that? Cymbals crashing together, trumpets blaring off-tune, the march of absurdly tired feet – a parade is coming! Best move off to the side before an acrobat quite literally tumbles into you. If you are an unfortunate casualty, they’ll actually just start to fall asleep on you because they’re tired… so very, very tired.

Yet the parade continues to march on without them and you can let yourself be distracted by the impressive jumping around and festive partygoers (who seem to be joining in the parade as they please, in various states of undress). But be wary. Distraction will only make you easier prey for the very hungry caterpillar that’s coming up the street next. Run if you can, but it has so very many legs and it’s coming after you.

For those unable to make it away from the caterpillar, they will find themselves gulped right into its gross, drooling mouth – and about five minutes later, they’ll be released out again onto the streets covered in a pink slime. It looks like you won't be able to free yourself from the stuff, so hopefully you can find a friend to get some help! Or one of the strangers around you? Unfortunately, when a kind soul finally comes by to pull you out of the slime, they’ll find that the outside of the gunk is not only immensely sticky but also slippery. If they're not careful, you'll both end up stuck to the gunk together.

You both better get out of that stuff quick because once someone joins you, the slime starts to move. Quick and gooey, it'll pull you and the hapless soul with you down the street at a much too quick pace. Hopefully you won't slide into too many people as you skid your way through the streets of the Entertainment District like some sort of demented Katamari Ball. This is why you should never trust giant bugs!

PHASE III

[ xxxx ] In a smaller booth, toward the outskirts of the carnival, some may find a familiar face manning a quiet little shack on her own. Although those who have been in the colony long enough may have first encountered her as an 8-bit version of herself, Aria the fortune-teller is now back and more than willing to drag unsuspecting people into her hands again. Once you step into her stall, she takes one long look at you before sliding over a fortune cookie and a mask. What do you mean you didn’t ask for a mask? That's too bad, because it's yours now. She won't say anything more than that, giving nothing more than a quiet dismissal with a hand and an enigmatic smile to match.

When you step back outside, you’ll find that you just can’t get rid of the mask. If you toss it into a trash bin, it’ll be right back in your pocket. Throw it at a friend? It’ll be in your hand in the next second. Throw it away enough times and it’ll suddenly plant itself on your face -- which leads to all the alien carnival goers in the nearby vicinity suddenly going still with fear before moving to get as far away from you as quickly as possible. Well... you seem to be able to take it off for now if you still want to enjoy the carnival. It just won't go away, and every time you try to throw it away, it'll attach itself to your face. Might as well just keep it.

But... still, it's strange how none of the aliens running the carnival will look you in the eye now, isn't it?

PHASE IV

[ 1200 ] For those who aren’t interested in dealing with the abundance of people, there’s also an assortment of critters gathered around for the petting zoo! They all seem to follow a general theme… kind of. That might be floppy ears and a tail if you... squint. The alien staff is right there and quick to ask you not to worry, they're perfectly harmless -- they don't eat humans! It would be bad for their diet, so feel free to pet them, if you can gather enough courage to do so.

Unfortunately, it seems as though this part of the circus was not put together very well; the rickety fences and cages don't really seem to do much against these giant...creatures. Towards the end of the circus' time here, it looks like those cages will start breaking down more and more, too.

The animals rattle the makeshift fences of the petting zoo, until finally, the fences just... collapse. Oops. The ground shakes as the animals stomp and immediately move to break out of their little ring. Well, would you look at that? You’ve apparently found yourself in the middle of a little stampede -- and those warnings about these animals not eating humans doesn't seem to hold much weight when now they're looking at you -- and they look pretty hungry.

BONUS

[ why o'clock ] Left and right, there are voices shouting for your attention. "Hey pretty young miss!" or "Excuse me, you stud!" or "Look at this, jackass!" – that said, aliens think that you all manage to look the same, so who knows if they’re yelling at you in particular – and they’re all daring you to come and try your hand at their carnival game.

It’s run of the mill stuff: shooting games, tests of strength, and knocking down a couple of milk bottles. You might actually be doing well! Or... you might be embarrassing yourself in front of whatever cute person you’re trying to impress! But regardless, in the last allotted ten seconds of your game, no matter what, you’ll find your point score plummeting right into the negatives. Did you get a bullseye? What do you know, that’s now worth -1000 points! You missed? -5000 points.

The stall assistant seems to be having a grand old time, laughing at your pain and when the clock finally runs out, they'll give you a large grin. "Look at that score! Well, you know what that means, don’t you? Now, we win you!" With that, metallic tentacles suddenly sprout from the booth itself, looking to capture you and whoever you’re with. Welcome to the carnival, now you're one of the prizes. And it seems you'll be here for quite some time. That is, of course, unless someone can win you back from these really horribly rigged games.

Looks like you'd better get comfortable hanging motionless from a display, like an oversized stuffed animal. You'll be here for a while.

[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to Cerealia's JANUARY event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will last from 1/26 to 1/30, or IC 5/13 to 5/15. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( phase ii: and he just smiled and gave me a caterpillar sandwich )
< a >

[ The carnival, in some ways, reminded him of some of the court events back in Camelot. The "people" of course, were incredibly different. Entertainment was often sought by the King but he doubted Uther would allow something like this to occur in the Castle but it was rather mesmerizing to watch.

He doesn't miss the tiredness, mind you. He knows how it feels to be pushed to your limits merely for the fact that you happened to be of a lower rank in society. He doesn't know if that's the case here, but the sloppy way some of the dancers seem to keel over suggests that they aren't given much time to rest.

That doesn't mean all of his attention has to be on the parade though. Merlin turns to whoever has found themselves in his company for this part of the carnival to give them an unsure smile. He still doesn't know how to feel about all of this. ]

How long do you think it will take before the entire parade collapses on the floor?

< b >

[ Or maybe you're unlucky enough to be taken up by the giant caterpillar, meaning that Merlin is stuck trying to get you out. It isn't easy when you don't have a weapon and everyone is watching but by this point he's had enough time to find out that the people he knows from home aren't here and magic isn't a punishable crime here.

That doesn't mean that the ring leader will like it when he runs after the caterpillar as fast as he can, aiming to get into a good enough position to cast a spell only for the person he had planned on saving to come flying at him covered in slime...

Well at least you're okay now, right? ]

( phase iii: hoping for best but expecting the worst, are you gonna drop the bomb on us? )

[ Considering his own "path" in life, Merlin isn't exactly enthused to find himself in front of a fortune teller of any kind. It's different to what he's used to though, no one of the Old Religion telling him that he's destined for a path of Greatness. It's unnerving how she doesn't speak, which is why he leaves rather quickly, instead opening the cookie outside the stall and leaving the mask on the table.

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go where there is no path...and leave a trail

Learn Chinese: bad = stuff behind you
Lucky numbers (Lotto): 09-26-17-56-21-23
Daily numbers (Pick3): 844

He instantly looks behind him, finding the mask tied to his hip with the attached strings. Obviously that means he tugs it off, trying to throw it on the ground. It doesn't even take a second before it's plastered to his face and making him splutter.

Gee, what a nice gift... ] Get it off! [ Though he probably just looks crazy as the mask is pulled off not even a minute later, instead left in his hands with him looking as though he's just seen a ghost. ]

( phase iv: who let the elephants out mrwaaa mrwaaa )

[ Elephants definitely don't exist in Camelot, so even a normal elephant would be a novelty. The one with peacock like feathers is stunningly beautiful, others are a little more frightening to look at and it gives him horrid ptsd of the Wilddeoren that had been caged and were used as a death punishment by Hengist. Gross.

He visibly cringes as he passes those, not really convinced this entire place will crumble around them. He turns to whoever is with him and instead says: ] We should probably get going.

[ The final countdown for this place becoming a stampede fest has begun... ]

( wildcard: hit me with your rhythm stick, hit me!! )

[ feel free to use the other two prompts i haven't put on here or message me at

otp if you wanna plan something out instead! ]

[why was he even at this carnival? it wasn't even that exciting, and now people were passing out during the parade. England stands there, in his paper crown and lacy green cape, looking absolutely unimpressed. he's already been called the ugliest person in all of Cerealia, and the day is just going to go down from here.

when he replies to the boy, his expression is bored] Not long. If this carnival is anything like the events Cerealia has put on in the past, I'm sure it's dangerous and unfinished.

[ Well now that he's had a little time to settle in ("settle" in... it's been too much of a change to really do that) it's easier to actually get what people are talking about now. His own cape is gone now and the crown is an even bigger crumpled mess so he hasn't really paid them any mind in a long time.

He can't say he's surprised by the explanation, mind you. ]

So we should expect something to go wrong? [ A sigh follows, then said rather dryly: ] Why can't there ever be just one day where things are normal?

[ but what is normal?? ]

[if CERES is involved, you should always expect something to go wrong, England wants to say. but the boy looks so disheartened that he can't bring himself to. maybe it's because of the familiar accent that escapes the young man's lips, or maybe it's the dry tone, or the heavy sigh. whatever it is, England doesn't feel like making things worse.

Cerealia is making him soft]

What was normal in your world? [he asks, turning his attention from the dreary parade]

[ Well despite that he'll also find that he's learned to Accept a lot of bad things are going to go down in his life, that he has to just deal with them one by one, as long as things work out in the end. England's question makes him pause and he glances away as well. The funny thing is: ]

I'm not really sure if it ever is. [ Because everyone normal has to fight afancs, willdeorens, questing beasts and trolls. Sure. ] I'd just really like things to stop for a day or two.

ota; comes late with sbux

phase IIa and i'll be taking that starbucks

but that's my starbucks :c

Re: but that's my starbucks :c

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iv

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iia!!!

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phase 3

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