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!
|
PHASE I [ 11 00 ] 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. ] |
![[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}
no subject
Oh. ...Eh, really? On which version of Earth? Not all of 'em. If you were a deity spirit, I'd know about you! [Probably!! He's a very small town spirit himself, though...] And the gods here are pretty nice. Ardeo's the best, though. [#BIAS.]
But that's mostly it. People are working on figuring more stuff out buuut I mean, dealing with super sneaky weird mega-powerful corporations always make things hard. I'm not really good at that sort of stuff anyway, so I don't know a lot about it. I just wait for people to point me in the right direction! But if you ask around I bet you could totally find some people who know a lot more stuff than I do.
no subject
[Viridi huffs.]
I don't see how some gods manage to get their grimy little claws into a few dozen parallel Earths, and no one knows about me. I'm Viridi! Goddess of Nature?
[She sighs in exasperation.]
Dealing with super sneaky weird corporations should not be this much of an issue. Just destroy them all, I say.
no subject
That sounds kinda Western... [So of course he wouldn't know much about it, but that sure doesn't dampen his enthusiasm!] But it's cool to meet a goddess of nature, y'know! Flowers and big meadows and the forests on the mountains are the best.
[A NERD...]
Eh, but I'm not sure even a goddess could do that super easy here.
no subject
Why, where are you from? Those little islands with their ridiculously large pantheons? I don't understand why you people need spirits for everything. Who wants individual tree spirits? That's just confusing.
[She gives a snort.]
The only reason I haven't is because I'm a kind and generous and patient goddess. I'll give them one more month to prove this place is worth its continued existence.
[i.e. she tried already and her powers fitzed out about a tenth of the way through creating her army]
no subject
A month is kind of a long time, though... Maybe like, two weeks would be better? I mean, that'd still be enough time for you to tell if you don't wanna deal with them, right?
[WHY IS HE ENCOURAGING HER.]
no subject
Visionary beauty doesn't maintain itself.
[this is her story and she's sticking with it]
no subject
But fortunately for her, he's easily derailed, so:]
D'you really need a pore cleanser? Your skin's super fresh-looking! [Focusing on the important things.]
no subject
You think so?
[Viridi preens.]
My skin care program was devised specially for sensitive skin over the process of five hundred years of experimentation and requires seven different extracts from rare plants that mortals haven't even discovered yet. It leaves your skin positively radiant, with a clean, fresh tingling sensation. The results speak for themselves.
[.....it is pretty good]
And now, if you act fast, for a one-time fee of Your Eternal Allegiance to the Great Goddess Viridi and monthly payments thereafter of the Firstfruits of Your Harvest, you, too, can benefit from the secrets of a goddess!
Package includes monthly supplements of three lotions, five creams, and a special powder brush made from the tail-hairs of pegasi. Shipping beyond the borders of this dimension not included in current rates. Skin care package may cause temporary ascension to divinity, mental euphoria, or eternal youth.
no subject
Seriously? Our harvests are pretty big so I don't think Haruji'd mind if we gave the first away. [...] But I mean, eternal allegiance is a little much. That's not some kinda blood contract in disguise, right?
[He knows some fishy deities, and he doesn't want to end up as part of their collective string of cautionary tales...]
no subject
[viridi never jokes about skin care]
But fine. If you don't think it's worth it, feel free to walk away with your crumbly oily skin. When you're old and decrepit and your face looks like a melted ice cream cone, you'll think back to this moment and regret everything.
no subject
[HUFFING AND PUFFING.
Though honestly... in his heart of hearts, he's still a little bit tempted. Just a little.]
no subject
[Viridi repeats in sing-song as she gives a shrug.]
Believe what you want. But even spirits can't last forever, you know. Sooner or later, it will sag, sag, sag and you'll be sad, sad, sad.
...What kind of spirit are you, again?
no subject
[He says, to Viridi the Actual Goddess of Rudeness. He touches his face as if to make sure it isn't really melting, though?!
And then:] I'm a tsukumogami! A sword spirit.
no subject
Sue-koo- ... Yeah, that's five too many syllables. You can be Swordy.
[Viridi's problem solving skills are stellar.]
And c'mon! How can you refuse my help when you're a sword spirit? You're going to rust, you know.
no subject
Huffing and puffing at that, though...]
Just call me by my name! It's Kashuu - super easy, right? [And better than swordy, which just lacks everything... EVERYTHING. That said, with a swish of his ponytail over his shoulder:]
My master takes super good care of me, so there's no way that'd happen! Even if the colony's flooded again, he'd dry us all off after like he did last time.
no subject
You're named after a nut?
[...]
I guess that makes sense. Only a nut would decline such a generous offer. And you know, most swords are owned by mortals, so. Unless I'm missing the mark here, you're going to be on your own someday.
no subject
[He's named after a province, which isn't much better?! He's also quickly deciding he doesn't like this particular goddess after all.]
And I'll just find a new one! As long as they know how to handle me well, I don't mind. [It's not that simple at all but no one else needs to be privy to his basket of Issues.]
no subject
Pro-tip: if you're going to be goddess of something, be goddess of everything.
[that doesn't even make sense]
Anyway, who's your master?
no subject
[If she can summon popcorn, surely she can summon other useful things!
That said, despite his callous remark, he's still a gushy moron at heart who responds right away with no small amount of pride:]
Haruji!
no subject
Tell your master that if he's ever looking for an upgrade, he can drop by my Sanctuary sometime and bring an offering. I can't guarantee good results, but you never know. Might win the Autododge lottery.
I assume your master's not a human?
no subject
I guess if it's not just ages of sitting around, it wouldn't be as bad. But I'll let him know! Haruji takes good care of shrines and stuff. [Though the miracle of the autododge lottery is lost on him.]
But— [And then he's shaking his head.] Haruji's human. He's got a looot of spiritual powers, though. [Like the ability to bring inanimate objects to life?!]
no subject
[Viridi wrinkles her nose at this.]
Ergh. Really? You couldn't find anyone better than a human?
[A slight frown.]
Humans don't usually have enough spiritual power to handle it. Not to mention that I don't let them in the Sanctuary as a general rule.
no subject
But his own expression shifts to something a little troubled in return.]
Humans are the only ones who can summon us! And Haruji's a good one. [Not that he'd ever contest there are some real rotten ones in the bunch, but his bias is Strong.]
But if he can't leave an offering, can one of us go and represent him?
no subject
[More popcorn?]
I learned to keep my larder stocked with junk food when I started working with a certain angel with a sweet tooth. You wouldn't believe the things he would eat off the floor.
Anyway. On my list, you outrank your human, but if you're fine with the whole serving a lower species thing, I guess it's your personal choice or something. Call me one day and I'll see if I'm in the mood.
no subject