⇨ ATLANTIS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: The morning of D44 and onward.
Where: The ocean realm of Atlantis.
What: The carnival abruptly arrives at an underwater realm, and everyone is transfigured into merpeople just as suddenly.
Warnings: Body horror, I guess.

THE CITY OF ATLANTIS↴ The visit starts without much warning, but at least there is a full week of free time before performances start. In the meantime, your characters will be given ample opportunity to adjust their acts for an underwater audience, get used to their new fishy appendages, or just spend the whole time enjoying the sights and sounds of Atlantis city. King Triton will not be immediately seen, but it's possible to gain an audience with him if you get in contact with the ambassadors of the kingdom. Just, make sure that you're not wasting his time. He's a lot less patient with nonsense than the Ringmaster is. ► FISH FRIDAY: You fell asleep, whether or not that's something you usually do, and the next morning you wake up as one of the merfolk. A few last additions may grow in after you're awake, but for the most part everyone will have a method of swimming and a method of breathing underwater transfigured into them upon waking. Don't worry about your belongings - everything is waterproofed, and technology will work the same underwater as it does above it. That doesn't mean there won't be plenty to get used to, though. ► GREAT BLUE YONDER: The ocean realm where Atlantis resides is enormous, and the depths seem to be unending. Despite the fact that there doesn't seem to be any surface, sun glimmers all the way down to the ocean floor. Atlanteans use creatures like whales and dolphins as rides and beasts of burden, and they can be seen swimming in and out of the city as constantly as roadways filed with cars in earth civilization. Beyond that, there's everything you would expect to see on the ocean floor here - huge reefs of coral, both familiar and exotic, enormous ocean plants, deep ocean trenches, and all kinds of weird critters living in them. There are a mix of mythical and standard ocean creatures, and are likely a combined populations of many oceans worth of beings. ► THE ATLANTEAN MARKET: The Atlantean market (aka the "merket") is a long trench between rows of buildings in the middle of the city, lit with bio-luminescent plants and rocks, and filled with all kinds of weird mer stuff that you can buy. There are a great many individual booths, mostly with hand crafted wares and objects that have been salvaged from various sunken ships. The Ringmaster has already traded a large number of goods to the merfolk here, and has taken the profit to award each worker with 100 Atlantean Gold to spend as they please. One gold is worth roughly five USA dollars, for a comparison of how much that is. There is a top level set up below in which characters can make their purchases, and you can also handwave the purchase of random common, necessary items (food, drink, etc) at your convenience. ► TREASURE HUNTING: Right now, the only major salvage areas are a few left over sunken ships that have mostly been picked over by the merfolk. However, you are welcome to head over to them and explore, and see if fortune smiles on you when it comes to finding anything that hasn't been taken yet. The current options are three similar looking brigantine that all probably came from the same world. Merfolk do not seem to consider them to be anything extraordinary, though magical items and gold have allegedly been found within them. Whether or not anything is left, is the real question. ► LIMELIGHTING: Merfolk are curious and generally socially forward, as a species. This mean that they find the carnival's workers to be a fascinating novelty, and also are unafraid to make that fascination obvious. Given the opportunity, merfolk will demand your character's attention for bombardments of questions and for general socializing, especially if they are particularly unusual for some reason. Don't be surprised if you get invited to stay at total stranger's houses, or dragged off to a merfolk bar to surprise party with their friends. They'll let you say no, reluctantly, but they will also be pleased as punch to get up in your gill. It's also possible to make some money, this way, if you're willing to do street performances, or are willing to sell your "skills" in a more private environment. Yes, there are opportunities to become a fish hooker if you are so inclined. Merfolk may also offer money to take you as arm candy to various public events, escort style. They don't consider this to be a particularly socially inappropriate thing to do, either. You can ask general questions about this setting over on the event post. There are top levels below for buying Atlantean merch, and also for making dolla dolla, if your character is inclined to try.

Comments

⇨ MAKING MONEY

[ringleaders]

This post is for inquiring about money earned through street performing, being a hooker/escort, or raiding sunken ships. Please explain what your character is doing, who they are working with, if anyone, and how much time they are spending on it. I will be randomly generating coinage based on those factors.

[motivenotfound]

Mari spends some time in the sunken ships... she's out there for at least a couple days, honestly. She's not actually looking for money or 'real' treasure, though, she's looking for ~cultural artefacts~ or whatever nerdy shit she thinks is neat. But she's not gonna NOT take a handful of coins or whatever if she trips on it. She just... will probably also leave a decent chunk of change behind, because once you've seen one identical coin, you've seen them all??? It's hit or miss.

She's also mostly working alone, but her top level has a prompt for people to team up with her on the short term. (Because her mondo Gaghiel fishbutt isn't really designed for closed spaces, yikes.)

⇨ THE MERKET

[ringleaders]

There are a great many wares to be found in the city of Atlantis, and the merfolk living there are more than happy to trade. Both Atlantean gold coins and personal affects can be used to barter with - what a particular item is worth will be up to the merfolk. If you have something in particular you are looking for that isn't listed, you can ask if it exists and at what price here as well.

The stock of magical items is limited, and the quantity left is listed next to each item. If no quantity is listed, they are unlimited quantities. If limited magical items are purchased, they will eventually be replaced with new stock.

⇨ SHOP LISTING ⇦

[otoko]

Gongenzaka is forking over a whopping 75 gold for the VERY important purchase of the Scroll of Meditation! Congrats Gon you spent approximately 375$ for that.

Joker - ota

[pipers_son]

Fish Friday

[Well. That's one way to make Joker take a decent night's rest. And he appreciates it, really, he does! It's amazing how much more refreshed he feels, waking up in his trailer again.]

[Just. Did there have to be so many legs?]

[What this means for Joker is a scene that some veterans might find exasperatingly familiar: the stage manager stumbling and crashing into various buildings (although he tries to avoid people) as he trips over one of his own legs or attempts to see how well he can use his wings to "swim" instead of "fly".]

[Please help this man. Good god.]

A Job To Do

[Of course, once he gets it down on how to move with the least amount of disaster, Joker makes a call over the radio to Entertainment.]

So. It seems like we're gonna have ta do a bit of tinkerin' with our acts, ain't we?

The Merket

[With movement and work both figured out, Joker has decided, as usual, to go explore the city. Things seem much more doable here- frankly he likes worlds like this the best. Merfolk seem a lot more inclined to magic carnival bullshit than shitty machines, no offense to the robot in the carnival.]

[Ignoring the stares for now, Joker takes his time perusing everything with a grin and, if he spots someone familiar from the carnival, he'll raise his good arm and wave.]

This is definitely a sight, innit?

Limelighting

[Considering his wooden forearm, lack of a right one, general pretty boy appearance, and his wings most of all- the simple structure of it and feathers foreign to the seadwelling people- Joker would probably get attention anyway. However, well. It's Joker. He soaks it in, grinning at anyone who makes eye contact with him and winking to those who seem amiable to it, which is a rather lot of people.]

[Really, it's probably for the best that he's so easygoing, because merfolk don't seem to have any hesitation in getting in his face and being curious. He seems glad to chatter at people, and any offers on an impromptu performance or other things- well. He'll certainly listen with a bit of curiosity of his own, if nothing else.]


[ooc: For those who want to get "NPC Carnival Guest" points, I'm totally fine letting Joker be the target, and you can NPC a merperson however you want. He's pretty easy going and doesn't mind doing performances or being an escort. Fish hooker is up in the air.]


Joker's Wild

[Feel free to do any other prompts! Joker can be found just about everywhere, as he is prone to be.]

Fish Friday!

[destiny_key]

[As hilarious as this is, Sora's not one to leave a friend to flop around like a lunatic in a strange space. It is really funny, though, so he might. Take a minute to get there.]

Do, uh, do you need help?

Mari Makinami Illustrious | OTA

[motivenotfound]

A. They're just so FRIENDLY!

The most exciting part of her job--other than her actual job--is the part where Mari gets to join a new society of some kind of a few weeks and just immerse herself in it. She loves novelty, loves all the little superficial (and not so superficial) ways people are the same, no matter where you are. As long as there's life, there's going to be something human about it.

The attention of the merfolk is a little, uh... a little much even for her, though. It's exciting, at least at first! Fun. The enthusiasm is almost infectious. Okay, it is infectious. In no time at all, she's giggling with squads of merfolk she's never met before in her life, delivering dramatic retellings of everyone else's most embarrassing stories. She's not just gossiping, though: she's also got them hooked on her descriptions of the coolest monsters and wildest dimensions, which is way more exciting for them, but gets her a lot less information back.

Still, she's not quite as big on people in extended quantities as she likes to lead others to believe. And with her eyes, arms, and unusual lower anatomy, she's a much, much bigger novelty than most.

Which means that sometimes, the only way to escape is to apologise--a lot--and see herself out. Directly. By the time she's ready to make her escape from another fun-at-first outing, though, those (40+) eyes spy someone else in a similar... er, boat.

She hesitates. She could just bail....

She could, but...

She taps a shoulder with one claw in passing, eyebrows raised significantly--but for once, harmlessly.

"Psss!" She jerks her head towards the open water.

Need an out?

B. Shipwrecking... across the oceanverse?

Poking around the remains of other civilisations is basically what got Mari here to begin with. For some people, that'd come with an expectation they'd have learned their lesson.

For Mari, it's just human nature.

The hardest part is navigating her new lower half through... well, anything that isn't open ocean, to be honest. Gaghiel, vast monster though it was, is REALLY more designed for barrelling through obstacles than going around them.

Sadly, her face isn't.

Fellow shipwreck-searchers will find her circling above a rusted portcullis, peering into it and pondering its gap seriously.

Maybe someone smaller can just... swim under it?

C. Wildcard

[Anything goes? Of course it does!]

B!

[kingsroads]

That someone is Jonathan Strange. He's not smaller, per se, but he is a skinny magician who's new and improved lower half isn't as bulky as Mari's. And, he's also been exploring the shipwrecks, lured in by the rumors of magical items over treasures and baubles.

He's not entirely surprised Mari's out here as well. The thing is, he has no idea what she's currently doing. She's just watching something.

"Spotted something interesting?" he asks, idly swimming up to Mari as he peeks in the portcullis himself.

Sora | ota

[destiny_key]

I. Wake up in the morning feeling like a merman

Thankfully, this was not the first time Sora has had fins, but it was definitely a shock to wake up and find himself floating several inches above his bunk. Luckily, it only seemed to be people that were effected by the water, although it was always a mystery where his clothes went when he transformed.

After a few moments of getting used to the water again, Sora cheerfully swims off to breakfast with his new and improved fins. He's certainly in a good mood over the new change, although he's probably the only one.

II. Exploring for fun

This ocean is certainly bigger than Atlatica, that's for sure, although it's hilarious how similar the two names are; Atlantica and Atlantis. Is that just a theme of ocean-based worlds?

Sora spends most of the morning off exploring the new area, and wow he definitely likes it a lot more than the old one. He explores the city, explores around the city, and is just generally everywhere at once. It's exciting, exploring a new place, although maybe someone should go after him and attempt to reign in his excitement.

III. Exploring for profit

One thing he's noticed since they've gotten here, is that Sora has definitely become a lot more partial to his new, very shiny freckles sprinkled across his face and shoulders. He was kind of indifferent to them before, but now? They're probably his favorite feature. He's not quite sure why.

Another thing he's noticed, is shiny things in general are now catching his eye at every opportunity. Jewelry, shells, even the keyblade are suddenly ten times more interesting to him. To the point that he's grabbed a bag from somewhere, slung it over his shoulder, and started picking up anything interesting that he sees. Mostly shells, so far, but also a few pieces of sea glass and a few other things.

Which is how one might find him in one of the downed ships, scaling for treasure or any other cool things he can find.

IV. Wildcard!

[Hit me with ya best shot!]

I - fishyfishyyy

[insidescoop]

[Definitely not the only one, though Carly's changes are rather eyecatching for her part. She's very very...jelly. Lower half is one thing, but not only has her upper body taken the colouration and seeming consistency of one, she's even covered by a large transparent dome, rather like most jelly fish would be.] Hoo..! I think I got this...

[Rather tricky, because of the whole jellyfish-pump motion...]

Greg Universe | OTA

[fragileandsoft]

Fishy Friday

"I really--really would've thought living on the beach would--woah--prepare me more for this sort of thing."

Greg ends up doing a lot of windmilling his arms, despite it likely causing more balance issues than it helps. The changes actually don't bother him so much as he'd thought, but it sure does make getting around weird. It's a whole different balance issue than he's used to, and the added weight and weightlessness make it a pretty strange new experience.

Finally, he swishes his fins enough to get some control over what direction he faces. It's anyone's guess if his face is redder from exertion or embarrassment. In spite of his disorientation, though... Greg's still grinning. This is all a lot more harmless than before.

"Well, certainly could never do that many flips out of water before!"

Limelighting

In comparison to the surreal and dangerous residents of the Dream Realm, and the overhanging threat of enslavement for the Matrix, Greg finds the friendliness of Atlanteans a welcome change. His more mammalian design, while not unheard of, isn't the most common among merfolk. His antlers are especially striking--he's not super sure what they were made out of before, but suddenly they've turned to coral. The effect is unique enough that plenty of the locals are eager to strike up a conversation with Greg.

He happily answers any questions they might have, lets them take a look at his strange wheeled vehicle that only moves along the seafloor, plays them some music on his magically waterproofed guitar... and, of course, he readily accepts offers to go and explore with locals and meet their pals! Oh jeez, you don't need to pay him, he's happy to make new friends.

Wildcard

[For once, Greg's doing plenty of exploring. He can be found most anywhere safe!]

fish friday!

[kingsroads]

"I don't think anything could prepare us for this," Strange can't help but chime in as he slowly makes his way over towards Greg. He has absolutely no swimming experience whatsoever so his moving around is a combination of outright flailing as well as relying entirely on his lower fish-half to push him through the water.

As such, it is very inefficient and really slow. But hey, he's trying and he seems bound and determined to make his way over to Greg despite the fact that he's really not going anywhere. And Greg, for all his balance issues, is at least moving somewhat and moving in a way that gets him places, which is more than what Strange has going right now. Ergo, he's the perfect person to bother to figure out just how entirely to do this.

"That thing you were doing with your arms. Does it help?"

Tanyuu | OTA

[fourthscribe]

A: Get your fashion on

This is quite possibly Tanyuu's favorite place the carnival has been to since the Summerlands. Not only are there far less buildings and a wonderful proclivity of wildlife around, but her body is for once entirely suitable and convenient. Her new gills and fins feel like an extension of what she had already been, and it only takes a few minutes of experimenting to make the transition from slithering to swimming. It's an incredibly liberating experience, and for a while Tanyuu simply swims around for the sheer joy of it.

Eventually, though, her attention is drawn to the market. The fashion here is very different just by the nature of the environment, and she knows that she and the rest of wardrobe will be pulling double-time to get performers looking just as stylish as they had before. Changes of body type aren't an unfamiliar hurdle, but such a drastic difference in so many all at once...really, the Ringmaster ought to warn them of situations like this. Or maybe she just expects them all to be prepared for anything at any time. Tanyuu drifts through the booths and surveys the wares, occasionally stopping to ask questions about certain pieces of clothing or jewelry.

At the moment she's looking over some of the finer garments available for purchase, handling the delicate fabric with care. Spotting someone from the corner of her eye, she smiles and holds up a gauzy sleeve with a smile. "So, do you think this would suit me?"

B: My milkshake brings all the fish to the yard

Tanyuu is not necessarily a social recluse--at least, not nearly to the extent that Ginko is. She does certainly keep to herself for the most part, but she's hardly averse to chatting up the locals when they come by. And quite a lot of them do, curious and asking a barrage of questions that leave Tanyuu at a bit of a loss.

But what really gets her flustered are some of the women. Clothing options here are far more--ah, open in many respects, which Tanyuu can certainly understand, but some of the 'maids have a way of leaning in close that makes the fact hard to ignore. Incredibly hard, in fact, especially when combined with the flattering compliments and suggestions to go get a few drinks together. Tanyuu is hardly a prude, but she really has no idea what to do about this.

The current problem has wrapped herself around Tanyuu's arm, giggling as she lists off suggestions for places the pair of them could nip off to while Tanyuu herself is flushed to a very interesting magenta color. One pair of eyes catches sight of a fellow employee and she makes a hurries gesture with her free hand--help, please!!

C: Wildcard

( ooc: If you have any other ideas, hit me up and we can work it out! )

b

[atouts]

Luckily for Tanyuu, if there's one thing Childermass — a now very shark-like Childermass — excels at, it's ruining someone else's day. If that someone else happens to be a pretty mermaid, so be it. The gesture for help is enough to get him to change whatever course he'd been on before and lazily swim around in a wide circle to intercept the two.

He comes to a stop directly in the mermaid's path, so abrupt about it that there's a near collision. It's not something he'll apologize for, either. Instead, he's looking down at them both with the most bored expression he can muster. The 'maid earns herself only one glance before he dismisses her and turns to Tanyuu alone.

"As reluctant as I am to ruin your fun," he begins without an ounce of sincerity about doing just that, "the Ringmaster has been looking for you. It would seem there's been a wardrobe malfunction."

Yuugi Mutou | ota

[toogoodtoopure]

Fishy Friday (closed to Chiaki)

[It's often now that they wind up just flat out collapsing on his bunk half the time, so it's unusual to wake up and find himself not curled around Chiaki in some way. Yuugi stretches, blearily blinks one eye open and then the other and...okay wow, his vision hadn't been like that when he'd gone to sleep. For a moment he thinks it's another change, before he stretches and catches two very flat shapes out the corner of his eye.

Curious, Yuugi wakes fully and turns inward to look at himself, only to find that he's floating a few inches above his bed. And then when he turns to wake Chiaki, he stops when he notices that. Well..she looks a bit fishier than she did last night. Reaching, he nudges her with the end of a...fin?]

Chiaki-san...


Merket

[Once he has control over his swimming and new form, and the Ringmaster has given them the local currency, it's off to the market for Yuugi. It seems like so long since he's last bought something for himself and, well, why not try the market? He browses the stalls, but in the end, it's aesthetic that has him buying a few of the fashionable bangles, though he does have to point blank look at the owner of the stall when they take interest in the cartouche hanging around his neck.]

That's not for trading.

[The merman seems to be a bit disappointed but drops the subject and hands Yuugi his items, which he thanks him for and swims off after paying. There's part of him that feels guilty about it and that he should go back and apologise, but as he slows down his swimming, the guilt creeps up on him.

He sighs, hanging his head and lifting his fins to rub his face.]

That was kinda jerky of me…


Limelighting

[Even among merfolk, Yuugi's hair attracts attention, especially with how it flares in the water. The fading purple gets a touch up, as do the blond bangs at the front when someone offers to do it for him in exchange for going to a bar with them. When he says he's eighteen, they laugh a bubbly laugh and reassure him then tug him off in the direction of one of the more…alternative looking places. That's really the only explanation for it.

It's only a little later that he can be seen wowing merfolk with…card tricks? Not Duel Monsters either, just normal playing cards that he had stuffed in his backpack when he'd arrived at the carnival. Dry thanks to magic, he shuffles and cuts them, performing a couple of air tricks before he draws a card.]

Is this your card, ma'am?


wildcard

[Yuugi will be out and about around Atlantis and of course doing his job at the carnival. Hit me with your best shot.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ Chiaki wakes up floating. It's a slow, peaceful waking. The world seems quieter than usual; the sounds of the Carnival more distant somehow.

She hears Yuugi calling to her as if from far away, and attempts to roll over, but the motion is immediately foreign to her - instead of arms, she feels two large flaps of skin on either side of her body, moving awkwardly. And still she floats.

Chiaki the ray finally opens her eyes to find herself drifting, and the trailer full of water. ] H-huh...?? [ And Yuugi's tap is... strange. She rolls over a little more, still floating, to see his strangely morphed form hovering above her. ]

Yuugi-kun?

Jonathan Strange | open!

[kingsroads]

fish friday
While other people find themselves waking up with fins and scales of more exotic animals, Strange wakes up to find himself looking rather like a goldfish. Not that he knows his lower half looks like a goldfish to begin with. The most Strange knows about fish is that some are edible and they smell horrid. There's a brief few moments of panic before Strange realizes that everybody else is settling in well, this must be a performance stop.

And honestly? Better this than the bloody Matrix. Even if he's having a bit of trouble swimming. It's taking him longer to figure out how to swim than expected. Strange finds himself upside down more often than most as he tries to figure out how the various fins and new muscle work. So, here he is, one of the greatest magicians of the age, currently floating uselessly upside-down as he desperately tries to right himself.

great blue yonder
Again, Strange doesn't know fish. So as he swims out to explore a bit, he's absolutely flabbergasted at all the different creatures he sees. There's some he recognizes: turtles, larger than expected. There are whales and dolphins, creatures he's only seen in books. There are a few things that he doesn't know what they are in the first place. There's plants of all color and animals of all shapes and sizes, some of whom he has no idea could even exist.

He's having a ball.

A manta ray swims by and Strange is just awestruck. he's a kid in a candy store, absolutely taken aback and enthralled by the varying types of sea life. Anybody near him, whether Carnival worker or merman, is getting hit by a continuous stream of questions. "What's that one called?" is followed by "Is that really a seahorse?" which is then followed by "Look at that thing! It's pink!"

limelighting
Strange attracts attention partly due to his status as a carnival worker, partly due to the fact that he isn't blending in with his clothes at all. He's given up on trousers, but Strange is wearing his traditional 1800s shirt, coat, and badly tied cravat. He also attracts attention due to the fact that he's currently performing magic on a street corner.

He can't help it. The merfolk badgered him to show off and he's not going to be an ungracious guest. Also? He finds the whole thing hilarious. Back in London, in his London, street magicians were hardly real magicians in the first place, charlatans who tried to con people out of their money with card tricks, sleight of hand, and feeble attempts at spells. Norrell had a campaign going to push the street magicians out of London, imagine how mortified he'd be to see Strange here, on a corner, performing magic as if he was that common?

Of course, Norrell would probably have keeled over with shock the moment he set into Faerie. Ah well.

Standing on the corner, Strange has attracted quite a crowd as he performs. Sand from the ocean floor swirls around him, forming the shape of various land animals. As he spots a carnival worker, Strange calls out, with a laugh. "Over there! Give me a request for an animal to show next!"

wildcard!
it's a wildcard. hit me up, yo.

[atouts]

"An elephant," will be the answer Strange gets.

It's from Childermass — unsurprising, since most of the time he may as well be Strange's shadow — though the man has kept his distance during the street corner show. It's not out of disapproval (Norrell's anti-street magician agenda had been a huge waste of time of his own time, very annoying) that he does, but that with everyone's attention on Strange, he's free to lurk in the background ignored for a moment. That's worth a lot, though it won't stop him from offering a suggestion.

He's similarly dressed against the Atlantis grain, much like the other magician, only much more tidy about it. From his spot at the back of the fishy crowd, he's leaning casually against some structure or other made of blue and red coral, idly chewing on the end of his pipe. It's useless to try smoking down here, but it's a familiar habit and no one here is going to make a fuss over him having it out, unlike back in the Matrix.

Ginko | OTA

[dontpokethat]

Fish Friday - menagerie edition

Oh are you kidding him.

He had just been getting used to those stupid deer legs, and while adjusting to balancing on hooves was one thing, swimming with this ridiculously long tail takes a whole other type of adjustment.

At least he can’t fall this time so much as… drift slowly downward.

...Of course, now that he’s made his way to the menagerie, he’s got more to worry about than his problems with moving around. Though, ironically, what’s really throwing him off is that there… doesn’t seem to be much to worry about. He’d think that leaving all these animals underwater, and apparently not changed the way the workers have been, would be… you know. A problem. But apparently not.

He leans against the fence around an enclosure, flicking his tail every so often in an effort to keep himself from drifting around. “Y’know, I almost feel like the flying fish are a little redundant in this context.”

Great Blue Yonder

Ginko never spent as much time near the ocean as he did in forests back home, but there’s something nostalgic to it all the same.

It doesn’t hurt that in some ways this place reminds him of the forest itself; even when he was working by the sea he didn’t usually spend a lot of time under the water (not intentionally, anyway), but as it turns out it’s surprisingly similar to the woods. The light filtering through the plants as he swims among them, the fleeting glimpses of tiny creatures among the coral - it’s all familiar, in a strange, sideways way.

He’s a good bit more relaxed than he has been in a while, examining the strange corals and plants with visible interest and occasionally scooping up small animals, turning them over in his hands. He hasn’t set foot (or… tail) in those trenches yet, but he does keep glancing toward them… no telling what could be down there.

Atlantean Merket

Now this is interesting in another way entirely. He’s not as used to more populated places like this, and would rather not spend too long here, but it’s pretty fascinating to look around in all the same.

Of course, truth be told, he’s not too interested in the clothes or weapons. He can mostly be seen poking around the curio shop, seemingly just as interested in bits of coral and sculptures as he is in the magic items. What’s most important is that it’s all new.

Wildcard

[OOC: Feel free to come up with your own scenario if none of these work for you!]

fish friday

[pipers_son]

It's a little bit of coincidence that Joker had ended up near the menagerie, especially since he's mostly just figuring out how to swim still right now. Still, it's not something he can complain about, and at least most of the creatures don't judge him.

Well. Probably. Still not sure about that one in the suit.

So he's around when Ginko comes by to take a look, and his comment makes Joker laugh. "Not sure how the Ringmaster thinks we'll use them in any shows when they've lost their real showstoppin' trait."

Miko Nakadai | OTA

[pullingamiko]

The Atlantean Merket

“Oh man, can you believe all the cool stuff here?”

It doesn’t really matter if she knows them or not, if there’s someone nearby who Miko recognizes from the carnival, she’s going to try and get their attention. She keeps swimming back and forth in place, trying to stay more-or-less put but still not quite used to her neon purple, spike-lined tail.

She won’t stay there long, though, zipping across in front of whoever she just spoke to in order to look at something else or because apparently Miko Nakadai has no time for basic manners.

“I don’t even know what half this stuff is, but it’s pretty freakin sweet.”

Treasure Hunting

Oh hell yes spooky abandoned shipwrecks. Honestly, Miko couldn’t hope for much more from a trip with a faerie circus into a magic underwater mermaid world.

...Actually this is better than she’d probably expect if she just heard that description, that sounds pretty stupid.

But anyway. The point is, spooky abandoned shipwrecks, also known as definitely obviously where she’s going, because of course.

She swims eagerly through one of the ships, poking through the ruins without much in the way of caution. Even if there’s nothing particularly valuable here, just exploring is pretty great on its own.

At the sound of someone else moving around nearby, she spins around to look at them, her tail sweeping through the sand settled in the wreck and sending it swirling through the water.

“--Jeez, way to sneak up on me! Have you seen this place, though? Seems like it’d totally be haunted or something.”

Wildcard

[OOC: Lemme know if you want to do something else!]

IT'S MERKET TIME

[otoko]

[You know Miko, for a slug, you are moving far too fast here. (Conversely, someone is moving a touch too slow despite being an Enormous Shrimp Thing. But any how.) Gongenzaka for his part has just gotten over how his latest purchase has gone. A large and detailed scroll of meditation...which apparently involves magic.

Bugger.

He very nearly drops it when Miko darts past.] A-AUHH!

P-Please be careful with where you are going!!

childermass / ota

[atouts]

i. up, up, and away

Waking up this way involved a large amount of unwieldy crashing around the trailer. That's what when you're suddenly part shark and have a moment of panic, even if only a short one. The silver lining, he supposes, is putting everything he knocked over back wasn't so bad as practice goes.

That done, he'll take his chances outside. What's out there more than makes up for the awkward awakening and the fact that he can keep swimming upwards to get a better view isn't half bad, either. He'll be seeing how high he can swim up above the carnival and how much of the surroundings he can take in from high up. Way, way high up, at that, which eventually leaves him squinting upwards.

"...just how far does this go?"

Which he asks mostly to himself, but who knows. He may not be alone up here.

ii. the show must go on (despite all the water)

As fascinating as being under the sea is, it also provides its fair share of dilemmas, too. Childermass is running into one of those right now at the Big Top, going through what few props he actually includes in his own act. Bizarre as it still is to even consider having a magician's act in the first place, it is what it is and he better figure out how to fix it. In particular, the making the vicious hippogriff vanish part isn't going to work so well in the water. Aside from the fact a hippogriff isn't even remotely aquatic, the big red cape meant for throwing over Lauren (also known as the "hippogriff" in question) is...

Floating.

It's floating. He can't really throw this over anything at all and he's proving that right now. Sure, he can throw it, but the cloth spreads out through the water and floats. It's funny in a way, but still a problem.

"I suppose I could weigh it down somehow," he says to the empty center ring, idly tapping his chin with webbed fingers as he thinks aloud.

iii. sharks aren't meant to be friendly anyways

Make no mistake. Exploring Atlantis — literally Atlantis, the real deal — is a dream come true. He'd been out at sea before, as a much younger man, and the stories of a lost city under the sea and mermaids had always been fun to imagine. What he could never have imagined, though, is just how friendly the people living here would be. There's nothing wrong with that and Childermass can be social when he needs to be, but the sheer crush of attention is not something he's used to.

So it's only a matter of time until one of the merfolk tries way too hard to get his attention and mistakenly asks one of the few things that can offend the stoic man. It's culture clash at its finest, one that's about to become an actual clash.

There's a shout or two and him shoving the nearest of the merpeople away, no doubt a lapse in judgment on his own part when he squares off right after and makes good use of those shark teeth by snarling at the offenders. He is normally a much calmer man than this, but surely even he's allowed a rare moment of losing his temper.

It might be a good idea to intervene before there really is a fight over here, though.

iii

[wild_magic]

Susan had wasted no time in going to explore the city itself. His sea dragon tail had taken a little bit of practice to get the hang of, and he's probably still not the best swimmer around, but it was easily enough to check out the sights and sounds of the place.

...One of those sounds being some kind of fight starting. Susan is never one to shy away from conflict, and so he makes his way over, trying to figure out what's going on as he goes. He recognizes Childermass from the Carnival when he sees him (they may not have spoken much, but he does an act with his brother so it would be hard not to have seen him at least a few times), and when he sees him shove one of the merfolk away he swims right up to the group. He must be in trouble or something if he's pushing people around, right?

"Is everything okay?" Normally he might use magic first and ask questions later, but with all of his spells being fire or lightning based, he knows it isn't a good idea. For now he'll have to just use his talking instead. It's basically his job after all, although maybe technically it isn't when they aren't on the Carnival grounds.

Jimmy Novak - OTA

[empty_vessel]

Fish Friday

In hindsight, Jimmy should have known something was up when he noticed his fingers were webbed. Not just a little more skin between his fingers, seriously webbed with translucent white skin coming almost up to his fingertips. Yup. Should have been the first tip off, especially after he'd been talking about it with Joker the other day. And then he looks under the covers to see what else has been altered.

NOPE.

The next thing he knows, he's sitting in the middle of a giant cloud of ink, trying to strangle one of his own tentacles. His tentacles. Great. At this rate, Jimmy's going to be in therapy forever. But first thing's first. Get the ink out of his house. So open the doors, put fans in the windows without thinking too hard about how that is even supposed to work, and sit in the front yard and wait.


Treasure Hunting

He hadn't planned on going out to see the shipwrecks, not initially. But swimming is hard when you've got an enirely new set of legs and he totally meant to go out here and Jimmy didn't end up drifting randomly until he could figure out what was going on. Really.

At least there's lots of things to grab onto and practice moving around with. Even if he does still bang into a wall occasionally. And eight arms does make it fast to sort through the sand, if he doesn't look too hard at what's going on.

Wildcard! Surprise me!

Treasure Hunting

[thevictoriandetective]

Sherlock, being the incredibly curious detective that he was, eventually made his way over to one of the shipwrecks to see if there was anything he could learn from it. What kind of ship was it, were the makers originally human, was there any treasure...? The last part intrigued him more than it usually did, maybe from being in the carnival, but he'd always wanted to be a pirate as a child. This was sort of a dream come true.

Sherlock swims closer, his sea serpent-like lower half was that of a frilled shark, which also included the fancy frilly gills. His skin was mostly the same uniform gray, and his mouth was full of a lot of sharp, backwards-facing teeth.

He notices something--no, make that someone--banging against walls occasionally, with what looked like tentacles.

Ah. He recognized him.

"Looking for sunken treasure?"

THE RINGMASTER | OTA

[lordofthering]

⇨ BEST FIN FORWARD
Quite shortly after people start getting out and about, an enormous figure will be seen rising from the center of the carnival. This turns out to be the Ringmaster, complete with her own merfolk form - in this case, a long, spiralling, leviathan-esque serpent body beginning at her waist, in shades of black and green. Her human part also just seems to be larger than usual, as if she's additionally become a giant as well as a sea serpent.

She stretches her arms enthusiastically, cracks her back, and then starts swimming around the carnival grounds at a rapid pace as if she's looking for something. Unlike many stops, it seems that she's actually interested in getting out and seeing this one for herself. She dressed herself up in a great deal of golden jewelry, that almost serves to cover he breasts but not completely.

After about an hour, she heads off towards the city. However, before she goes, you may spot her great shadow above you, grinning down at you toothily through the ocean water.

"Hey! You!" she might say. "Give me a spin - I need to get a look at you!"

[pipers_son]

Well, if this isn't an occasion. A better mood than she'd been in for their last stop, and the inbetween. Joker pauses his movement- he's been getting the hang of all of this, using a combination of his whole body, skittering shrimp legs, and his wings, which has certainly been an experience, let him tell you.

At least he's never been a shameless short, and he grins up at the Ringmaster, wiggling himself up through the water and twisting about with his wings flaring out. "Well, if it's a lady as pretty as you, ma'm, I wouldn't say no even without the contract. I have ta say, yer lookin' larger than life especially today!"

Goddammit, Joker, really with that joke?

Phichit Chulanont || OTA

[phichitchu]

☼ Fish Friday ☼

Phichit didn't even get the chance to meet anyone the night before; after making the deal with the Ringmaster to atone for his voyeurism by working for the carnival, he was struck with sudden exhaustion, the result of all the wandering and new information he had been hit with all at once. So, trailer assignment in hand, he quickly went off to bed -- and awoke with a jolt to unfamiliar surroundings.

Even when he remembered the events of the night before, Phichit was jarred by the realization that he was underwater; his body immediately stopped breathing, until he could hold his breath no longer and realized, to his immense relief, that there were gills by his collarbones taking in air, and that even breathing through his nose was perfectly harmless. The next big surprise was his body; though as identical as ever from his waist up, gills aside, everything beneath his navel had been swapped out for the massive tail and fins of a Thai redtailed catfish; black and white on either side of his body, ending in a bold, vivid red fin.

Figuring out how to control his tail and navigate was more intuitive than he'd expected, to his immense relief; as an athlete, he wasn't used to being betrayed by his body. And once he had that down, he decided it was time to explore, both his new workplace and these fantastic new surroundings.

☼ Limelighting ☼

Though he's heard whispers from some of the other carnival workers about the market, the native merfolk, and even treasure ships, Phichit is still too curious about his immediate surroundings to be ready to wander the wide ocean world he's in. He stays close to the carnival tents, talking to any merfolk, native or otherwise, that he runs into.

And if those people ask to see what he can do, well... it'll be hard to demonstrate any figure skating or acrobatics in an underwater environment, but Phichit wouldn't be Phichit if he didn't know how to put on a show.

FISH FRIDAY

[fortuneglass]

[Among the people Phichit needs to meet, his future coworker is probably among them. Carly-as the (former) sole tailor for the joint, is LONG overdue for some help to say the least...especially now that literally everyone is going to have to be refitted, have costumes redesigned, remade, so on, so on...

The now jellyfish looking woman is rushing rather frantically through the Carnival lanes, with as much skill as she can have when she can only really propel herself ala...Jellypumps. It's hard.

It's very hard.

It also mean that between two merthings learning how to properly control how they move, a collision-or near collision-is immenent.] H-Hihhhh!! Look out!!

Koel Babic | OTA

[cuckooed]

Fish Friday

Well. She's not quite a fish. She's actually quite...crabby. And a bit off balance, as her legs skitter her straight into a wall.

Not that she's mad. Actually, she's kind of chuckling at her imbalance. Honestly, if you can't laugh at yourself, right?


Limelighting

How does cooking under the sea work? Pretty much the same as on the surface, apparently, except with more water and - in Koel's case - a temporary extra set of pincers. She makes sure not to do fish dishes just in case that's offensive and gets them run out of town, but there's plenty of vegetarian dishes she's picked up on the way. If you find her doing a public show, you'll find she's calling on mer to pass around food - though of course, there's nothing wrong with her fellow carnies from pretending to be part of the normal crowd to help her make her dishes.

And if its a private lesson? She does always try to take at least one carnie with her. Strength in numbers, of course.

((OOC: Feel free to hit up Koel's demonstrations as either a fellow carnor or an NPC mer!))

Limelighting - NPC

[pipers_son]

As Koel calls upon various mer, one who comes up is a woman with billowing black hair and a long purple finned tail, a similar membrane going from her wrists all the way down her sides to partway down her tail. In fact, purple seems to be the theme for her, makeup of some kind in the same shade applied to her dark skin.

"What is that?" she asks in open curiosity, for once not as interested in the appearance of the carnival member she's speaking with. At least, what they're making is going to have her attention for the time being, anyway.

GONGENZAKA NOBORU | OTA

[otoko]

[IT'S FISH FRIDAY BRING YER NETS]

[Since the day of the 'eavesdropping failure', Gongenzaka has absolutely thrown himself into his work. Extra patrols wherever he can, no rest, no pawse, no nothing! It's enough to drive a man to exhaustion, in fact.

...Which would probably explain why he fell asleep, right? Except something seems different when he wakes, and it's not just the fact that he fell asleep in the middle of the path. No...it takes a few minutes but-] AUH!?! Floating?!

[WHAT'S GOING ON WHO CURSED HIM WHO-

This is about where he realizes he has more than four legs. A lot more than four legs.

All of them are flailing through the water he is now floating in, and-]

AAA-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUHHHHHHH!!!!

[To Merket, To Market-]

[It took a bit to recover from the transformation, but at the end of the day it makes sense. They're underwater. Entirely underwater. It's unavoidable (probably), and he'll take it to drowning right now. Moving has been a hassle to adapt to, but it's nothing he can't conquer! He can make it, master it, and more importantly-

...Well after all, all sorts of cultures could have teachings to share, and any scroll with a price like this has to be genuine right? (how could anyone sell a forgery for that price right?!)

He's made his purchase already when he hears the words 'magic' from the storekeeper.

Along with 'no refunds or returns'.

Leaving the mantis-lion-shrimp standing there in blank, wide eyed shock for a number of moments as he clutches the scroll.

This was a meditation scroll what do you mean MAGIC-]

[SOME SUB-LIMELIGHTING]

[Gongenzaka is not one to barter-when he sees anyone in need of help, he simply acts. So as he wanders through Atlantis, there's quite a lot that he ends up doing. 'Shrimp' or no, his strength is still quite phenomenal even next to the average fishman, so a bit of muscle is more than appreciated when it comes to say...moving a few crates around, helping someone to move a glowing algae rock fixture, and so on, so forth.

The trouble is, however, that the mer in turn wish to thank him for his help-and when he refuses cash...] AUH-

P-Please, it is quite fine..! But I, the man Gongenzaka, must insist, I am unable to drink-

[But a drink would be the perfect treat! Or perhaps a bite to eat at a restaraunt, or-]

Please, it is fine..!!

[someonehelp]

Limelighting

[pipers_son]

[A good, kind soul would help bail Gongenzaka out of this.]

[Joker is unfortunately not that good. So he scuttles over with his own shrimp legs, grinning over to the mer as he slings his good arm over Gongenzaka's shoulders.]

Well now! It looks like yer gettin' along with the locals just fine, huh, Gongenzaka?

FISH FRIDAY (Closed)

[mylastchance]

No no no no no. There was no way this could be happening. Lauren's thoughts are a panicked haze as he wakes up to find his legs are no longer a part of his body. He thought it was a dream at first. He could feel the water on his skin, but he could breath without a problem. He wasn't transformed either. It shouldn't have been possible, but here apparently it was. It's only once he tries to stand up that he really freaks out though. Trying to move his legs results in a tail flicking his covers to the side. He looks down, following the end of that tail up in growing horror as he realizes that it's connected to him.

Where the hell had his pants gone?! It's not a thought he dwells on for long as he tries to move his legs and the tail moves again. It's long, a dim yellow with faint brown strips along the sides. It's like no fish he's ever seen, and maybe that was for the best because he wasn't a fucking fish right now. He looks to Susan concerned, unsure if his brother has been transformed as well. He puts a hand on his brothers shoulder, gently shaking him awake.

"Susan," he hisses between clenched teeth, "Wake up."

[wild_magic]

Susan is a deeper sleeper than Lauren, but he still easily starts to wake when his brother shakes him. He blinks his eyes open sleepily before he takes in the water, and then he sits up with a start, looking around confused.

"Lauren, what's going on?" Whereas Lauren is alarmed, Susan is just confused and assuming his brother has the answers. He figures whatever's going on is safe, he's used enough to magic that he doesn't question it, but it is a bit weird still.

Sherlock Holmes | OTA

[thevictoriandetective]

A. FISH FRIDAY

Needless to say, after getting trapped in this carnival, the physical changes that included looking like a giant lizard person, actually getting turned into a chameleon for a week, plus getting caught by the Ringmaster (again) recently for a bout of--in his view--mild snooping, after all of this, one would think that Sherlock Holmes would be able to handle suddenly waking up underwater and finding what could only be described as a giant eel-like gray tail wrapped up in his bunk.

"WHAT IN BLAZES--"

A second of flailing and yelling later, in which he was sure his heart rate broke 200 bpm, he realized that the flailing of the great gray thing was in fact, his flailing. Ever observant, he quickly looked over himself to figure out what just happened. He'd find out later that he resembled a frilled shark, a creature that lived at great depths that was probably responsible for the legends of sea serpents. Having rows of backwards-facing sharp teeth was also, in two words, not fun.

Underwater.

He had a fear of drowning, and his brain lashed wildly against the reality of him being quiet able to breathe, despite his gills being very large, frilly, and obviously taking in proper oxygen. It didn't matter. He still panicked, and he thrashed his way out of his bunk and through the rest of the trailer. He didn't know how to move with this giant, long tail, and he curled up in the corner, his eyes wide and trying to force his mind to accept this new reality.


B. GREAT BLUE YONDER:

Eventually he'd managed to figure it out, and luckily the type of fish he was floated quite well, unlike other sharks, so he languidly hovered around, simply exploring things and satisfying his curiosity. He'd always wanted to be a pirate as a child, and with that came dreams of exploration and mermaids. Two out of three wasn't that bad.

He liked exploring both the city itself and the surrounding area, and it was...oddly enough, serene and peaceful, yet exciting and new at the same time.

Sure, it'd probably get boring after awhile, after he'd really sorted through all these new things, but for right now, he was fairly happy about it.

C. LIMELIGHTING:

The merfolk were just as curious as he was, and thrice he was nearly dragged off to go to some party or some social event. Of course he refused, he could scarcely handle ordinary social interactions. Having to learn a new set of social rules for an entirely new species was altogether too much for him. Humans were difficult enough as it was, and he was one.

Well, mostly one. Who knew what he was now after living in this blasted carnival.

Still, he'd gotten wind of a couple of mysteries. Missing persons (fish?), unsolved disappearances, that sort of thing. He'd offered his services as a consulting detective, and lo-and-behold, he actually started getting a steady stream of clients. Some of the 'mysteries' were as boring as someone's significant other cheating on them, but there were a few worth his time.

FISH...

[otoko]

[And that...is how Gongenzaka finds him. He fell asleep in the middle of a pathway, himself-so he's...very carefully relearned how to walk with tangling legs, and very slowly made his way to his trailer.

To find this.

Ah.]

...Sherlock?

[...He hopes you are not dead.

That would be....a tragedy. Sort of.]

lars | OTA

[mossbuds]

► GREAT BLUE YONDER:
To say the least, Lars was upset when he woke up with even more unfamiliar body parts. Doubly so since everything was underwater—at first, he thought it must have been a nightmare, and realized everything was fine after a good episode of trashing around comically in his bed. The moral eel's ass he's woken up is twice as long as his body, taking him from 6'0" tall to more around 8'8" or so, with the length of his tail.

He spent a good thirty minutes or so trying to get a hang of swimming decently, resulting in knocking over almost everything in his room. He quickly feels claustrophobic in his trailer room, and decides the trailer itself won't be much better—so he rolls his eyes and decides to head out. He's been feeling restless and emotionally unstable from recent events, and after the embarrassment of getting caught drinking and then crying in public respectively, Lars is eager to take his first chance to get out of the actual carnival itself for the first time.

So there's a chance you might see Lars admiring a large coral garden—with his eyes, and his hands. He peers around the corner of one of them, watching an—incredibly large crab drift out of it. He swims a little further up, inspecting the reef for other creatures. He's interested in the city as well, of course—he'll head there next.



► LIMELIGHTING:
One thing that Lars has also had to adjust to is the attention from the locals. In his curious venturing, he's noticed all the eyes on him from mer men and women alike, of different colors, shapes and varying shades of ethereal to familiar.

Lars is someone who suffers from a lot of really stupid ego induced duality; theoretically, he loves shit like this. He often fantasizes about being the center of attention, fawned on by attractive, strange women. But in practice, he always freezes. He's currently going through the market, self consciously cupping the swell of his ribs in each of his palms as a few mer people fawn on him. He's done well to mostly avoid interaction, too nervous to attempt in to indulge in the attention—but he's been kind of stuck.

One of the strangers takes his hand, moving it from his torso, and Lars's face blooms scarlet, neon lilac eyes widening. They say something about the webbing of his fingers through a laughing smile, and Lars reciprocates the smile somewhat bashfully, maybe easing into the situation. He makes conversation with the three of them, a little scarce in words compared to his admirers—one gently looms into his personal space with a little float, cupping her hand around his ear.

Lars tilts his head, blinking as he listens—then thrashes his long tail, propelling himself away from her, snatching his hand out of the hold of the other lady's.

"What?! I'm a friggin' carny, lady, not a whore!"

► WILDCARD:
(ooc: hit me up on discord or poisonparfait to figure something out! or just hit me with something random without prior discussion, that is actually gr8 as well)

THE GREAT BLUE YONDER...

[otoko]

[Hey speaking of large crabs...

Turn around the corner and up and over and you might find something REALLY BIG, Lars. Careful observation shows that he's not only not moving, but that he has a scroll in front of him.

But that's careful observation. A lack of this just tells you HEY!

SEA MONSTER! Maybe slightly familiar sea monster, if you can get past the monster-looking bits]

CARLY NAGISA | OTA

[fortuneglass]

[SUPERFAST JELLYFISH FRIDAY]

[As usual for Carly, she's not fallen asleep in her bed. She's fallen asleep at her work table, in the tailor's area. Assistant or no assistant, she's too used to working on her own to just take a necessary break after all. Which means that when the carnival arrives far beneath the sea, she's out like a light....

And then when she wakes up, she turns on like one too. Her body is inky and dark, but in actuality it seems to have gone largely translucent in places. A jellyfish sort of form, it seems, and one that's more 'jelly' than 'human' for sure.] H-Heh..?

[For a moment, it's quiet surprise that she reacts with, the large 'dome' covering her billowing up as she wakes. She looks over her hands, over the glowing marks..] Heh??

HEHHH!?!

Since when was I not a bird!!!

[THAT IS THIS NONSENSE.]

[MERKET DAY]

[When in Atlantis, there's only one thing to do other than work-and that's more work, sort of. As the main tailor around the place, she's still in charge of figuring out all these costumes after all-and that means she needs to do some studying. They're supposed to be performing here, in fishy bodies, right? Well the costumes they have in stock right now sure won't work! They need something new...something...]

Oooooh, this looks nice...

[She's going to need to get an outfit for 'studying' purposes, of course. Just for studying. Totally not self-rewarding reasons.]

[WORKING THE WILD CARD]

[Now that she's gotten all of her supplies (including a series of fabrics and add-ons for the construction of these), it's time for Carly to GET TO WORK! With determined fingers, you're invited under the jellyfish umbrella for measurements and design consultations!

Let's Get Started!]

Fish Friday

[waitingforplayer2]

Carly-san!

[ The ray-ed Chiaki flaps towards her, her movements inefficient and awkward as she continues to get used to her new form. ] Why do you have a dome...?

Chiaki Nanami | OTA

[waitingforplayer2]

GREAT BLUE YONDER

The latest change is a significant one. With her head, arms, and torso mostly intact, it's not as disorienting as it could be. Still, it's taking her a little while to learn how to really move. She has to sort of undulate her whole body, and move her fins this way and her tail that way -- it's a lot of work, and she's not very coordinated at it.

Luckily there's plenty of open space. She spends most of the first morning in the open ocean, away from anyone or anything that she could bump into, swimming in slow circles.

ATLANTEAN MERKET

When Chiaki checks out the Merket, she swims fairly low to the ground, the ocean floor currents helping to move her along. It's because of this perspective that she notices a tiny colorful guppie hiding by itself underneath a stall.

She's pretty sure she saw schools of this fish elsewhere. So she takes the fish under the shade of her fins and begins swimming from mer to mer, asking each the same question:

"Excuse me! Have you seen a school?"

TREASURE HUNTING

The ships are exactly like dungeons. Chiaki's not really into hoarding anything, but she does want to explore them in their entirety.

She can be found at the top of one ship, carefully drawing out a map on a large sheet of paper. "Okay. I still have to try there, and there. I haven't even started on the third ship yet."

WILDCARD

[ I'm open to anything!!

Also please note that Chiaki has no pupils. Your character is free to notice this, even if she hasn't! ]

merket time!

[vitrissimo]

[ viktor had, slowly, been getting used to swimming around. at first, he had done everything wrong and nearly collided with every passerby. now, he swam deliberately and with purpose. slowly, but accurately! it really was embarrassing, considering how strong his human legs had been and how well he skated. how did this not translate well into swimming?!

nonetheless!!!! he recognizes that voice in the market and heads over! ]

Ah - hello! I think I know you?

Hinawa | OTA

[sunflowerfields]

A: Fishy Friday

Hinawa still looks mostly the same as she was the day she arrived, but always had it in the back of her head that eventually she would start changing into something else. What she hadn't anticipated was having it happen overnight. All of a sudden, she's a... whatever this is. Her legs had disappeared and her hair is moving on its own! On top of everything, she's floating. It wasn't until she manages to maneuver herself out of the trailer did she realize that everything is underwater.

Why is everything underwater? Hinawa needs to figure that out. But first she has to figure out how to stop floating...upside...down...

"Um... could someone help me?"

B: Limelighting?

It doesn't take much time exploring Atlantis before Hinawa comes to a conclusion: Children are the same everywhere you go. A frazzled mermaid is trying to shop and rein in her tentacled toddler at the same time, and not having much success either way. The baby manages to worm her way out of her mother's grasp and paddles into the crowd, but Hinawa swims over and grabs her by the hand just before she can disappear. The mother is overjoyed to have some help, and before she knows it, Hinawa is saddled with a babysitting gig. Atlanteans are apparently very trusting in addition to being curious about the carnival workers. Throughout the free week, she can be found with a variety of merchildren of different ages. She looks over the moon with her temporary job.

C: The wildcard option!

A

[waitingforplayer2]

"I'm coming!"

Chiaki's been turned into a ray, and moving is incredibly awkward. She's inefficiently flapping her fins, and keeps drifting closer to the ground. "Sorry... just a second!"

Katsuki Yuuri | OTA

[musicinmotion]

[Fishy Friday Fun]

[So his life was now attached to a carnival all because he had played a game for free. That was something that Yuuri was slowly coming to terms with; accepting because really, what else was he suppose to do? There was no way to get home and at least he had the comfort of knowing Victor was here.

What was the worst that could happen?

Friday morning held the answer for that, apparently, because the instant Yuuri started to wake up he knew something was wrong. Everything just felt..off and his nose scrunched then relaxed as he let his eyes crack open, letting out a few bubbles--

Wait.

Yuuri's eyes snapped wide open as he sat up quickly--or at least as quickly as he could given he was moving through water now. He sucked in a quick mouthful and immediately started to panic but nothing happened. He could--he could breath. Why could he breathe underwater? Tentatively he opened his mouth and took another breath, then another, starting to frown as he lifted a hand to feel at his mouth, or that had been the plan, at least. Instead the shifting of something attached to his arm made him pause and hold it out instead, Yuuri staring down at the very obvious fins stretching up along the outside of his arm. It wasn't very wide and came up to his mid forearm where it faded away and was replaced by dozens of blue spots in varying sizes. Said spots spread over his shoulders and down his chest on either side, blending down into...his...tail? (Only one set of arms though!)

He was an octopus. No. Wait. Cuddlefish??]

No no no, this can't be happening what is happening--

[As he rambled he managed to get out of bed, struggling to make his new tail function the way he needed it to as he made his way out of his quarters and into the open where he found himself staring at an underwater city.

An underwater city.]


[Shopping Trip]

[Once the initial shock wore off and he realized this is what others had meant by the whole traveling carnival thing, Yuuri managed to figure out how to swim with a bit more ease and ended up in the midst of the market. Several of the residents of the city--Atlantis he'd found out it was called--were eyeing him curiously and he did his best to avoid eye contact, feeling overly self conscious for no reason other than his own confusion and stress over the situation.

But the distraction of beautifully crafted necklaces and the like helped and Yuuri found himself drawn to several different booths to check things out, slowly becoming more at ease as he drifted about.]


[Wildcard!]

(Feel free to do any of the other prompts!)

FISH FRIDAY YESSSSSS

[vitrissimo]

[ viktor had had a long night thursday. he had been combing through his notes he had begun taking regarding the animals and their specific quirks. the notes weren't great and were a mishmash of "yikes!" And "not cute." there were some names, but mostly they were vague descriptions.

so when he awoke on friday to quite the change needless to say he was quite shocked. and kept swimming sideways and upside down. this was nothing like skating!!!!!

he's going to eventually find - and slam into upside down!! - yuuri because he just can't get the hang of this. ]

Foster van Denend | OTA | tw: this went some places

[control_freak]

A. Best.... face... forward??

[Foster has never been a terribly strong person, physically. Poor diet and a tendency to neglect basic self-care really doesn't make you much of an athlete, you know. As a human being, this wasn't really a problem: humans can do a lot regardless of physical strength or ability, and manual dexterity can arguably count for at least as much as locomotion of any speed or level of endurance.

But the body of an orca is physically designed for one primary action: swimming.

Which leads to his current problem.

His new, much more efficient lower half is a lot more of that than he's used to.

It's also a lot more efficient than he's used to, meaning that, for a few days at least, Foster has a bad habit of... crashing into things.

And people.

At varying levels of power and speed, but usually with higher than recommended levels of force.

Hopefully he hits the wall and not you.]

B. Is it still NSFW if he's technically working?

[So that's how fucking worked underwater.

And once Foster knew, he was happy to put it to use.

Letting them use him.

Foster was happy--no, grateful for a chance to be used this way, to be of service, objectified and discarded after the consummation of others' needs. They don't see him or want him as a person--just a tool, the only qualities of which that matter are its availability and ease of use.

It's base, whoring himself out like this. Disgusting. Reducing his body to a commodity, sacrificing his own identity to the wants and needs of others. Of course, deriving pleasure from it is... reprehensible. Selfish. Greedy. All of which describe him thoroughly, but. He is being paid for it.

Except--

Except one of them gave him a present.

It's the kind of token that would be unremarkable had it been given to literally anyone else. A string of beads made from green mussel shell, worn around their neck--it was cheap, mussels being the shellfish equivalent of mice, frankly--but he'd found it attractive and distracting in the moment, and when they were done with him, they'd paid him and he'd expected them to be on their way.

But... they'd gifted it to him.

Just like that.

They'd just... given it to him. A present.

He didn't understand. He didn't deserve something like this. Even a little token--it felt repulsive, raw, unsettling. Just because he'd noticed it. His thoughts, his interests were supposed to be disregarded. They'd waved goodbye to him. They'd smiled. He couldn't say anything. Numb. Sick? He can't keep it. He can't discard it--that would be ungrateful. But he shouldn't have it. He shouldn't have something like this. He should never have been given it.

He floats restlessly by a wall, shoulders hunched, one hand momentarily closed tight in his floating yellow curls. Staring down at the seabed with an intensity that the obligation to blink doesn't much deter, he swims on, then stops again, turns back, like he's lost. Then, suddenly, he grabs someone, all impulsive compulsion, string of beads still clenched in one of his hands.]

Explain it to me!!

C. Wildcard

[Surprise me! Or hit me up on Discord at railehatesfun#6621]

B

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She's startled by his grab, particularly since there's not much of her to grab - her flat skin flaps are thin, as are her arms. But she attempts to calm her beating heart. ]

Wh-what? [ She squirms, trying to get out of his grasp. This is uncomfortable. ]