logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: COTTON CANDY HEARTS

Entry tags:

EVENT LOG: COTTON CANDY HEARTS

characters: everyone.
location: amusement park.
date/time: august 17 - 31.
content: time to enjoy a little time at the carnival!
warnings: n/a. please use cw tags as needed.

oh come, take my hand, and run through playland...

It's clear in the past two days of fevered work, the spirits are up to something. Collecting rainbow wigs and pinstriped jackets, gathering food and preparing decorations. There's no getting them to reveal the secret, though — any attempt to ask only results in an ominous gesture of silence. However, characters won't have to worry about what the spirits are up to for too long, as on the start of the 17th each and every resident of Beacon will be delivered a note, inviting them to come out and enjoy themselves at the Amusement Park.

ALL FUN AND GAMES.

Over the last few days, some of the food tucked away in the General Store, The Invincible's stock room, and the kitchens of The Landmark may have gone missing - but not to worry, because here it is, all stocked at little booths within the amusement park, ready for sampling! The enticing aromas of fried batter and sugar wafts through the air, no matter where you are in the park. Find old favorites, from funnel cakes to fried pickles, popcorn to whole turkey legs - or try something new! Ever had a corn dog wrapped in curly fries? How about a deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a stick? One spirit, currently chewing on a crispy battered pine cone, even offers a unique suggestion - bring it anything you like and it will deep fry it for you. You do have to eat it, though, that's the catch, or the spirit will be very irate and might take something of yours later to deep-fry and leave on your pillow. Don't waste good food!

At the end of the row, tables have been covered in classy checkered red-and-white tablecloths, and piled with ingredients, and it looks like ovens formerly belonging to some ruined village housing have been dragged all the way out here and plugged in, and are now waiting and ready. There's flour (all purpose, pastry, chickpea, and others, and - no, that's just a pile of sand on that plate), plenty of butter and sugar and spices, all sorts of summer fruits, and more. It's a pie making contest! The judge is the Lunch Lady spirit, who hmms and ahhs and ohhhhs wisely as they pace back and forth along the tables, observing the pies being made and occasionally taking tiny little samples with tiny little forks when the pies are baked. How will they decide the winner? That's their secret, for now!

But their delicate little tasting session has left the pies mostly unscathed, which means it's time for the pie eating contest! A rowdy quartet of squirrel-like spirits cheers everyone on who wishes to participate, and they squeak and chatter at participants, bringing pie after pie after pie directly to whoever walks over. How many can you get down?

If food isn't your style, though, carnie spirits host a number of games scattered throughout the park. They whistle and wave you over, jump on your shoulder if small or yell at you with animated limbs from above if quite tall, urging in their musical tones for anyone and everyone to come on down and give the games a try! Toss balls at a set of colorful stacked bottles, and see how many you can knock down in a single throw, with candy and costume jewelry for rewards. Fling a ring into a booth and land it around the head of the stuffed animal you want to win, if your aim is good enough. There's even a duo dunk tank set up - over a large tub, two chairs are suspended, each with an attached bucket of softballs and a target over the head of the chair. You and a friend get to climb in and see who can dunk who first!

MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE.

A carnival isn't a carnival without some rides to test your bravery with, is it? Past where the food booths and skill games are set up, there are a selection of them set up, all providing various levels of thrills. There's a roller coaster, of course, that's been constructed of wood and makes a loud rattling noise as it drives you through the loops and hills. There's also a tilt-a-whirl, a gravitron, and a log flume, if you're still feeling the effects of the heat wave.

For those less interested in thrill seeking, there are also slightly tamer rides, like the bumper cars, a ferris wheel, and the tunnel of love. All of these rides have the innate feeling of danger that you'd find at any theme park or carnival, but they operate quite safely, albeit with some creaking.

COTTON CANDY HEARTS.

Away from the fun and excitement, the Fun House has also come back to life. There's something a great deal more ominous about it than the rest of the celebration, however — in fact, spirits will actively attempt to steer residents away. However, those determined to explore can still find their way inside.

To start, it doesn't seem that abnormal. A mirrored maze, flashing lights and creepy music. However, as they travel through the mirrored halls, they'll notice something. Their reflection doesn't necessarily follow their movements. Actually, it seems like it is trying to get closer. Maybe that isn't their reflection at all?

Trapped and lost in the maze, eventually the reflections will become full-fledged matching doppelgängers of any character that entered. It's hard to tell the difference between the fake and the actual thing, though the doppelgängers will not speak, only chase — and chase aggressively. They will grow more and more aggressive in trying to reach their double, willing to go through potential distractions if they have to. Cutting them down seems ineffective at best; as long as there are reflections, the doubles will keep coming, growing more and more bloodied as they "die". Ultimately, they will not stop until characters exit the maze or they reach their exact match.

As they reach their match, they will reach out and grab their heart. Literally, hand through the chest and everything. It's as excruciatingly painful as it sounds. The doppelgänger will smile a demented, satisfied grin, and disappear immediately after without a trace. Any character that got nabbed by their double will suffer from lantern malfunctions for the rest of the event. You're more than welcome to pick what malfunction and to what extent!

FIND YOUR FORTUNE

Characters that have braved wandering outside the relative warmth and activity of the the celebration will find the rest of the amusement park still a little grim. Dark, worn down, abandoned. Plenty of the rides seem ominous at best and dangerous at worst. In their searching, characters are likely to happen upon a fortune teller lingering in the shadows.

If they are brave enough to approach, they'll find there is no need for a coin. Upon spotting them, the fortune teller will creak into motion, offering a spiel in a slightly monotone robotic voice. It's a little unnerving, though what is the worst a robotic fortune teller can really do?

Well, it turns out, every fortune the fortune teller provides always comes true. Some of them are harmless, like a prediction that they will win their next game of darts or find a cherry in their blueberry pie. Some will get far more grim fortunes, that they will find glass in their next drink or that they will step on a nail. Worst of all are fortunes that essentially force a character to do what they would normally wouldn't, like confessing a dark secret to the next person they see.

While you are welcome to make up your fortune, you are also able to put your character's name here to get a mod-generated fortune. There will be potential clues for future explores in these fortunes, though there is also a chance of receiving something else, such as an injury or a strange happenstance. No one will receive death in their fortune!

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"It doesn't come up much." He doesn't bring it up much, that's the difference, but he manages just well enough to keep from saying literally those words. It's a struggle, though, as he focuses on what he wants to say, rather than what comes to mind first. He continues to frown as he stares down at the water rather than at Stone, trying to concentrate.

"It's a type of fruit that grows in my world. If you eat one, it gives you powers. But it means you freeze up in still water if you get too deep. They call them 'devil' fruit because of an old myth about how there are devils that live in them, and how the sea hates the devils and wants to punish them and those who harbor them. We know better now, but the name stuck."

Meg's wholly unfamiliar with the food being offered, but it smells and looks inoffensive enough for her to give it a try. She's currently got a plate of funnel cake in hand and is gingerly picking at it when Rosinante asks her about it.

"It's not bad, really sugary," she says, attempting to dust some of the powdered sugar off of her fingertips. "Do you want to try it?"

"Right. 'Bumper'," he says with an amused snort as he stands and dusts himself off, then scrunches himself back into the car.

"I still think it's really weird how nothing in this town is built for anyone bigger than all of you. Every time I think I've gotten used to it, something new comes up that's hard all over again just because I'm a couple feet taller. How'd you all end up so much the same? Same height, same species, all of it," he laments, only it's mostly rhetorical. Again, not the sort of thing he intended to say out loud and he kind of stops and squints at it having happened again, then sighs heavily. "Damnit."

He eyes the funnel cake suspiciously. Normally he's not about things that are super sugary, but maybe if he can't taste them right now, or ever again, then maybe that's okay. Maybe he'll come to find something to like about them.

But there's a problem with this one, whatever it is. He stares it down a second longer as if it has said something offensive, then meets her eyes with his. "Sort of looks like bread. Is that bread?"

Regarding it again, Meg supposes it could be considered a type of bread, but it definitely doesn't look like any kind she's ever seen, even here.

"I guess it resembles it if you ignore all the powdered sugar. Why, not a fan of carbs?"

"No, I just don't like bread. Smells bad, tastes bad, the way it... squishes..."

There is utter disgust in his expression which only gets worse as he describes his loathing.

"Not sure what carbs are. Is that what makes bread bready?" he asks, clearly indicating that bread's breadlike status is what is totally unacceptable about it. Which is to say, everything.

All right, Meg understands food preferences and dislikes, but one would think bread had personally offended his mother from the way he's talking. She blinks a couple of times listening to him, mostly because she doesn't know what to interject with until he asks what carbs are.

"I don't know, but it contains them. Or so I've heard." She pulls another piece off, chewing it experimentally. "Most of what I'm tasting is sugar."

"Yeah, but what's the texture? I can't taste things anymore," he blurts out, then grimaces at himself and sighs.

"Because I died again," he adds, which is the last thing he wants to tack on to that, but it's what comes anyway, because the fortune teller has decreed he does not get to keep anything to himself anymore.

...Oh. She's been here long enough to know that some kind of consequence is a possibility when you die here, but she's yet to actually encounter it somehow. Meg is quiet another moment, then tears another piece of cake off and eats it, concentrating on the textures instead of the flavor now.

"There are pieces that are crunchy, but it's mostly kind of squishy, like you said. It sort of melts on your tongue. And it's really hot."

"Right," he sighs. "Well, enjoy it yourself, I guess. Glad you like it. And sorry, I'm - the fortune teller thing over there made it so I just say whatever comes to mind. I'm having a hell of a time just trying to have normal conversations. Just... because I know we haven't really talked much before."

Sure, he's seen her in passing plenty of times. Town's too small not to have. But he's sure making an awful first impression when it comes to saying more than a word or two here and there.

... Smelled her around? Alright. That'll be something she'll most definitely ask about in the future. For now, she'll focus on exchanging pleasantries. Putting faces to names if a high priority for her at the moment.

"I'm Lorem Laurel. You can call me Miss Laurel or Lorem." She smiles at him, at ease with the spirits gone. "I hope you're having a good time so far in the festivities." With everything that's happened, Lorem thinks everyone in Beacon deserves a break of some sort. "Win any prizes yourself, Mr. Stone?"

"A challenge is worthwhile on it's merits, it's not required to be fun." says the guy who has probably experienced 'fun' a single digit number of times.

"Still, you're not necessarily wrong." There's no real reason to not enjoy onesself. Especially since that seems to be the theme of this carnival environment.

"I accept." He gives a small smile, you're going down Ashford.

Between the additional ramble and the expression and then the curse, Soldat is guessing something is up. "I don't know why we're all the same-- might be no one does, but I can guarantee asking the murder machine with probably less than a quarter of their memories isn't likely to get you an answer." They look back at the bumper car, spinning it slowly to face Rosinante more fully and maybe aim it to come bump, as is their intended purpose. Gently, though. They don't want to dislodge Rosi again. "I also don't know why you're talking so much, either. But I don't mind if you don't."

"Wasn't really meant to be a question for you," he says as Soldat comes to bump their car against his. It's gentle, the bumpers are springy, the car sort of bounces back a little, and Rosinante's expression lifts a little because yeah, right, fun - that's why he's here, not to gripe about his latest issue.

"I tried that fortune teller thing a bit ago and it gave me some weird, well, fortune, I guess. After that I just keep finding myself saying whatever I'd normally think to myself," he explains as he steers the car around and gets it going to some modest speed again.

Will blinks. Stuffed animal? Why would he want that? Is... is Rosinante offering to show off for him? That's... unusual.

What's perhaps more unusual is the powerful temptation to let it happen.

It's been a good while since Will's had any sort of attention like this, and he won't deny that it feels nice, having someone want to show off for him, or really to impress him in any way. But it's also coming from Rosinante, who doesn't normally act this way. Is something happening here? Is he being too paranoid? Reading too much into things? Overthinking this?

Yes, probably. Does he even want this sort of attention from Rosinante?

"You can have a few." He holds out a handful. "No trade needed, though now that you've made the offer, I am curious to see if you could pull it off."

There, that's a middle ground, right? No.

"'Course I can," he says with a chuckle as he takes the beans, then pops one into his mouth. Hm. Yeah that's... still a pretty hard crunch, but could be worse. He takes a moment to try and determine if the deep frying really makes a noticeable difference or not, but it's hard to say.

"Maybe with a side-by-side comparison... Between fried and not fried, I mean," he says, because he realizes a bit late that he's started speaking his thoughts out loud without any context.

"It's the damned fortune teller. Made me say whatever comes to mind," he explains as he crunches on another bean, then waves for Will to come along as he starts toward the ring toss. "Which I know you'll probably take advantage of now that I've said that, but I guess fair's fair after that one time at the night market."

"Oh. I got something like that yesterday, only it only lasted the day," Soldat muses, steering out of Rosinante's way for now, playing a little keep-away to see if Rosi can get his own cart moving enough to make bumping more fun. "Mine just made me a little cold, and then left me chocolate in my room. Pretty harmless."

"Well, aren't you lucky. Guess it figures though, it's not like luck is something I ever have much of," he sighs, then shuts his mouth. Focus on the driving, force his mind off conscious thoughts to verbalize.

And he can force himself to stop, he's finding, if he really puts his mind to it. Most of the time, anyway. It's why he hasn't run off to hide in the safety of his room at The Invincible just yet. "I do deserve to have fun sometimes," he grumbles as his thoughts become abruptly verbal once more. "And this is the closest thing we've had to the Night Market in months. Used to love when they'd visit."

Hm, how sharp can this thing turn at this speed? That's something he can test, as he digs his heels in against the floor of the car's interior to brace himself as he jerks the steering wheel hard toward Soldat's car, with a smirk quickly replacing the irritated scowl on his face.

Aw, Rosi. "Of course you deserve fun sometimes. Everybody does." They don't quite include themselves in that yet, but they have fun, anyway, albeit usually in a quiet kind of way. Case in point: watching Rosinante out of the corner of their eye tolerantly, and letting him come bump their car without being too obvious about it.

"Oof." They steer out of the way again, put-putting out of range, unless Rosinante continues to pursue. "I miss their jukebox. They had all sorts of things there not on Songbird or the one in the Invincible. I recorded a lot of them, but. Not all of them."

Look, whether that was allowed or not, he'll take it. All in the name of just goofing around for a bit. None of them get enough of that these days and he knows it. Morale is and has always been important in a situation as stressful as theirs.

He lets Soldat scoot off, mostly because these things only go so fast and chasing endlessly in circles doesn't seem like it's the point. He steers off at an angle, instead circling for another opportunity.

"Yeah, I guess they must have had a collection from a ton of different worlds. Probably a lot of their own favorites, since they knew better than we do how to get specific things. I hope we figure that out sometime. Maybe just use their equipment, if we can get it working again. I like the music we have well enough though, there's still a lot I haven't even listened to yet. You have any favorites?"

"It's a heckuva opener, I'll give you that." She's not put off, though; even before she'd died she'd seen and heard plenty of unusual things. Someone not being able to taste because they'd died (again) isn't that offputting. "When did it happen?"

...Whoops, maybe that's not fair for her to ask when he'd just said he can't keep himself from saying anything. She seems to realize right after the question leaves her mouth and winces. "Sorry. Let's change the subject. You been on any of those rides?"

"When d- uh. Oh, sure."

As if he just can't quite stop speaking his own interrupted thought process, because he can't. He frowns a little, then shrugs. Subject change works for him just fine. Nobody wants to talk about bread anyway, gross.

"And yeah, I have. The bumper cars are pretty fun! I don't really fit in the cars so well, but it's the first time I've ever gotten to drive something like that, so that was cool. Do you have cars where you're from?"

She is, admittedly, curious about the bread thing. She tends to prefer pitas herself but does that fall under the bread category if funnel cake does? What's considered acceptable? What about baked goods? (She's from Ancient Greece, but she's had time to learn about muffins.)

"Chariots, no cars. Are they easy to ride?" Meg isn't big on thrill rides, but the bumper cars seem fun, if a little violent.

"Chariots, like for racing? Cool, we have those some places. These cars here, sure, easy enough for someone your size I'd guess. It sounds like the real ones like the broken ones in the scrapyard normally go a lot faster, but it's just a ride. You should try it."

Man, finally, someone else who doesn't take things like cars and trains for granted though, she's one of the few.

He gets pretty animated talking about the bumper cars, though. They might be small and slow, but he clearly genuinely enjoyed the experience, even if he fell out of them more than once. He didn't break anything, so he's fine!

"They easy to operate if you've never driven one before?" Meg was able to wrangle a flying horse, an electric car should be nothing, especially since the purpose is to crash into each other. But she's never done it before.

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EVENT LOG: COTTON CANDY HEARTS

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