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!
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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. ] |
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it's a pouty face?!
He gives her a glance before biting down. It's amazing hot much BETTER food tastes now. He's never even been a big food person as he's even skipped dinner, lunch or breakfast plenty of times before but this... if they had food like this in Camelot no one would ever skip.
Mouth full of hot dog he just gives her a thumbs up. ]
I SEE IT NOW
just wait until this guy tries ice cream... ]
If you like these, you can buy them from the supermarket and cook them on your own.
you see the light u//u
Athena please tell him where the healthy food is at too or he really won't be a noodle anymore. ]
You can-- [ He wipes his mouth ] --make this in the apartments?
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[ there's so much to fry, merlin. eggs, spam, more eggs, chicken, pork, EVERYTHING. speaking of fries— ]
Even these! [ she points to her own plate of fries. which... aren't a lot anymore. there's only three pieces left, tbh. ]
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I'll try it some time. [ It's taking a while to eat through the hotdog, but it's partly because he's just reveling in the different tastes. ]
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Well, we obviously can't ride anything for a while. [ unless you hate yourself and want to throw up everything you just ate. ] What else do you want to try doing?
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There isn't anything slower with less twists? [ He gives her a smile. ] Promise I won't spin it. [ More because he really has no idea what there is here really. While he has some parts back home (the parade, for example) most of it wasn't around yet. ]
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[ which upon remembering, sparks athena's excitement. she tugs on merlin's shirt bc why so tall u giant. ]
Come on!
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Carousel? [ Well if it isn't too fast and they won't puke it sounds like a good idea to him. That is, unless of course, the horses are actualy grotesque or something. That would be less exciting. ]
Which way? [ He'll follow her without further question though. ]
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eventually, they reach the carousel. horses and unicorns on sticks!!! ]
You sit down on a horse, and the ride slowly spins for you.
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It's during that walk to the gate that he notices there are unicorns on there too. ]
Unicorns-- [ He breathes out the word slowly and even when he continues his voice is soft. Fond. ] --are really beautiful.
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[ she goes up the ride to pet one.. even though it's not real. . she's definitely claiming a unicorn as hers now.
and curiously, she asks: ] Do you have unicorns in your home?
[ this guy can do magic. maybe they're actually real!! ]
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In the forests, usually away from people. I haven't seen too many of them.
[ Then again, even if he doesn't say it, she'll be able to hear the sadness there, huh? Oops. ]
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[ she nods vigorously. she's so excited now. but then she hears the sadness in his tone once her happiness subsides. ]
What's wrong?
[ and the ride starts. ]
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Instead his gaze dips, hand reaching out to lightly touch what would be the unicorn's head. ]
Like everything else, people hunt for game. For sport. [ And sadly it's something he hates more than anything, but Arthur enjoys tremendously. Something Arthur also calls him a girl for getting upset over the lost life of one of those creatures. But it's like him in the sense that it's part of the Old Religion. He can't really help it. ]
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she frowns at first, but she says nothing. instead, she runs her hand through the unicorn's mane and whispers "I'm sorry". she had thought that unicorns were like sacred creatures who shouldn't even be touched because they're so rare... but there really are people in this world, or merlin's, who do the opposite.
then she holds back a sob. ]
That's so upsetting...
[ and then she starts crying. again. SORRY, MERL. but at least the ride's music is all jolly. ]
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Arthur learned his lesson in the end. [ It's strange how flat his voice is as he says that, but it's better like that than cracking as well because that whole ordeal had been difficult. ] If you kill a unicorn it brings a curse upon you. Camelot was without food or water for days.
[ He gives her a wonky, half-hearted smile. ] That's why... the rat.
[ This isn't how you try and cheer up a girl hELP ]
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basically, merlin just made it worse. ]
Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! [ she doesn't even know what she's crying about, anymore. but it's a pick between the unicorn dying, or the whole food shortage and rat thing. ] That's so— I'm so sorry!
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He doesn't even know what she's crying about anymore. ] Athe--
[ He doesn't know if it's a bad move to make but he does let his head flop against the pole that cements the horse into place, and lets his hand reach out to cover hers. Or at least he tries to. ]
We fixed it. You don't have to... [ If she doesn't stop soon he's just going to get upset as well then where will they be?! ]
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the waterworks abruptly stop as she wipes the tears off her eyes for one last time. wow. ]
And everybody can eat normal food again? [ she's smiling again. it's not that big of a grin yet, but it seems that she's back to normal. ]
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But they don't have to starve or eat anything like rat anymore, no.
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[ her expression gets a little more content and she rests her head on the pole of the horse. somehow, crying felt tiring... a nap would be so good right now. but she doesn't let her tiredness show to her friend. instead, she just laughs. ]
I told you about the jungle, right? There were spirits - elementals, kind of - who brought us to their home, the jungle. That was probably the closest experience I've had to starvation. I didn't know how to hunt, so all I ate were mushrooms and leaves. We were brought inside a volcano after that... And then breathing became really hard, and there was less food in there.
I hope that never happens again.
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Hunting isn't something I really... like. Arthur's really into it because well. Unlike here it's the only way to really get food back home but. [ He shrugs. ] If it happens again-- [ Now his gaze lowers back to the unicorn for a moment, steeling himself. It isn't exactly unknown that he'd do anything for people he considers friends. He did everything in his power to save Gwen's dad. Then to save her when everyone thought she was a sorceress. He saved Morgana. He's saved Arthur. Lancelot. Camelot. The list goes on and on... So it shouldn't be so weird when he follows that with a firm. ] --I'll protect you.
sweats nervously...............
that statement definitely takes athena by surprise, because while she's used to being protected, actually being told that that's what's going to happen is just different. it's not bad at all, though.
she feels her chest tingle not because she can't bear to hear those words, but because she can tell that merlin isn't lying. they're just three words, but they're more powerful than any magic possible.
then, she smiles. widget changes from light blue to a bright shade of green as she does. ]
Thank you, Merlin. [ not merl, this time around!! ] You're a true friend.
sweats with you...............
Who ever said this had to stay 100% serious anyway. ]
You really don't have to. [ Y'know. Or maybe she doesn't. Either way he uses that pause to shift on the horse to try and get more comfortable, the bar in front of him digging into his collarbone as he leans forward. It's partly because this time he does notice the shift in colour in widget. ]
What's that? [ Well at least he noticed it now. ]
what are we doing
friendship. magic. pain. awkwardness??? i've lost track
cries on u
gently pats ur back
thank
ull be ok ... i believe. that was payback for emotional compromise over unicorns
i hate!!!
i don't want you to hate me 8(
i could never tbh 8(
good...... how could i live
dokis...
tsuns
oh... :< makes bento for
oh.... delicious /)///(\ no fish though please... i'm allergic...
ok fish are gross anyway
they are ;n;
PUNCHES MERLIN
Rude :T especially as my phone wont let me joke tag you properly
WHY ARE YOU STILL NOT ASLEEP o9!!!
because i was hamster petting!!!!!!!!!!!
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we can end it here though????
works for me!!!!