⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 138 - Day 152
Where: The Summerlands
What: The Ringmaster brings the carnival to the Summerlands immediately after being freed from Portland so that everyone can take a fucking nap. Her included.
Warnings: Individually marked! Most likely discussion of torture and trauma in here.

DAYS OF SUMMER↴ You made it! And things are back to normal... more or less. Upon waking, you will be greeted with a clear blue sky and gentle breeze – the carnival has found itself situated between a pair of mountain peaks, with great fields of flowers extending in the distance. In the other direction, you’ll see mountain-top cities and tall waterfalls accenting vast swaths of forest. Some of you will already know this place. It’s the Summerlands. You game here once to rest in safety nearly a year ago, and now you’ve come to rest once again. ► WAKING UP: Shortly after the carnival arrives, the Ringmaster will send out a somewhat cryptic radio message - but her immediate location won't be clear. Whatever items you had on your person at the time the Severing was broken will still be on your person, including whatever clothing. All of the animals and pets of the carnival will have returned to the grounds as well, though they are currently free from their designated living spaces. Things in the carnival will appeared to have naturally aged a month, as if the carnival was been sitting here empty and waiting while everyone was in Portland. The lawn needs mowing. ► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, they will welcome you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but they will not be particularly offended if they are turned down, for now. ► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will mostly enjoy the company of any carnival members that offer it - it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do. ► NEW ARRIVALS: Though the Ringmaster will not be offering much guidance for the first week or so, eventually the carnival will begin running for a few small performance sessions, off and on, as a thank you to their fae hosts. The carnival will also be open to receiving new arrivals during that period, and so there will likely be some newbies to train and get orientated as well.

Comments

⇨ INVESTIGATIONS

[ringleaders]

Yes, this is going to be a regular thing, now! Not all locations will have much to investigate, necessarily, but I will be providing a section where people can make investigation requests for if their character wants to learn more about a setting than is immediately apparent. This can also be used to cover the broad strokes of interacting with various available NPCS.

Like before, you must be specific about what your character is doing to find new information, and you must keep your requests to one or two actions per comment. No big laundry lists of things your character is doing - it is much easier to handle taking it one topic at a time.

[periphrasing]

Once she's recovered enough to get up and about, Peridot is going to want to talk to the locals and pick their brains a bit about farming. Specifically, she's on the hunt for seeds! Seeds for fruits and veggies, seeds for... weird fae plants, maybe? She'll try and barter for some if she has to.

⇨ THE RINGMASTER

[ringleaders]

[This is occurring about a half hour after they return to the carnival. One thread only, please! Multiple people are welcome to tag, but this is only happening once, so it can't be broken up. No tag order.]

The Ringmaster delivers her address about fifteen minutes after arriving back at the carnival, while people are still waking up and recovering. She hopes they're up and about enough to hear it. She won't have time to do it again.

There is a trail of heavy ash that winds through the carnival grounds, heading towards the Big Top. If you follow it, you will eventually find the Ringmaster.

She looks closer to her usual self now, though she still has the wings, tail and horns of her dragon self. It's almost like she's been caught half way between her dragonic form and her humanoid one, whether intentionally or not. More foreboding, her skin seems to be molting into ash, sections of it already turned to dust and fallen away in chunks. It's not exactly gory - there's no blood - but it's unsettling to look at.

For now she is just standing in place, making vague magical gestures. Eventually, a small bird made of magical fire will emerge from her hands, and fly up towards the mountain tops.

[manycharms]

It's beyond off-putting. In fact it's highly concerning, and were the Ringmaster not in the middle of making some obviously arcane gestures Marinette would have run over to her in a panic. The bird that appears when she's finished, however, is beautiful, and Marinette watches it fly away before realizing their leader is still kind of flaking apart.

"U-um... Are you okay?"

[amusicaladventure]

Waking Up

Everything hurt.

On an ordinary day, Ash would just hum a few lyrics and feel better. But today wasn't an ordinary day, of course, and at this moment, well... she just didn't feel like using her magic. Call her crazy.

The catgirl pushed herself up on one elbow just in time for her Dratini to tackle her and knock her right back over. "Oof," she said quite cogently, putting an arm around the Pokemon to both greet it and restrain it as she levered herself up again.

"Everyone okay?" A general question posed to those nearby as she got to her feet, though she wasn't quite ready to meet anyone's eyes. She had so much apologizing to do, and a lot of effort to make herself seem like she wasn't an inch from despair.

On My Side

She'd put a lot of distance between her and the carnival, in the hopes that no one would take more than mild interest in her exit and she wouldn't accidentally cross paths with anyone else wandering the Summerlands.

And when she got far enough away, she stopped in her tracks, shut her eyes, and quietly began to sing.

It sounds like a whisper
It seems like a dream
It breaks and it falls
It tears at the seam

But Ash was Ash. Quietly didn't last. The music rose and so did her voice, till both rolled over the fields of the faelands in gentle, piercing harmony.

Suppose that it happens
Suppose that it's real
Supposing you're right
Suppose it won't heal forever

And I will get old and tired
And nothing will get to me
No one will want to have me
Longing to be set free

If only the sun would take me
If only the wind was on my side...

[pipers_son]

Sprawled out on the ground nearby, feathers ruffled and spread out, Joker takes a second to answer. His brain still needs to work itself out, the feelings almost more intense than the fake memories, and he doesn't want to really.... do anything.

And yet, of course, at the exact same time, he wants to do everything if only to block out the mess in his head.

"I'm not on fire," he says after a second, groggily.

[hippocarnival]

[Day 138 | Waking Up (joint prompt with Yugo, OTA)]

[Yuya doesn't even register when they're sucked out of Portland and, after Yugo pulls the Hand of God away, he's lying on the grass. He's staring blankly, unable to focus on anything despite his head lulling to the side or his eyes widening and squinting to try and take in the light. He's still swept up in the pain, and although the screaming has stopped his breathing still runs ragged and his chest feels tight as his soul throbs from being pierced with so much magic.

Yugo is sitting beside Yuya, still with the Hand of God in silent panic. He looks like he could really use some help dealing with this situation.]

[Day 140-142 | Bed Rest Visitations (OTA)]

[Since Yuya's affliction is more spiritual than physical, and they're certain it won't kill him, Yuya's been released to rest in his own trailer. He looks very much like death warmed over him, weary and pale and weak--but after a couple days of fading in and out he's coherent enough to be able to talk to people, sit up, and eat.

His and Tamaki's trailer is left unlocked so that he can welcome friends, given he isn't able to do much getting up. And anyone is a welcome face, because it doesn't take him long before he gets bored is lying in bed sleeping, staring at the wall, shuffling through the duel monster cards, or beating video games on his phone for the 5th time.]

[Day 143+ | The Carnival or Summer City (OTA)]

[Yuya doesn't tolerate being bedridden for very long. There's too many people he needs to talk to and--well, honestly nothing much to do. He's been taken off the performance schedule until he's actually recovered, so his desire to be up and about is mostly his own listlessness. He hates being still and stuck with just his own thoughts. So he slips out of his trailer whenever Tamaki is absent and nobody else is visiting.

Around the Carnival he attempts to take a walk down to the lake--stretch his legs, get a change of scenery, and not be surrounded by people worried about his physical state. The problem is that his state is genuinely bad, and instead of the lake he's leaning against somebody else's trailer for support, completely winded.

That doesn't stop him from trying to make it out to the Summer City a few days later, though. He makes it just outside the gate before he just plops himself down on the ground, letting out a wheeze before staring at the sprawling meadow and the bright city in the distance.]

Whoa... [This is nothing like the more imposing and less welcoming Summer Court from Portland.]

bedside visits

[anti_nonsense]

[At some point while resting, Yuya might wake up to find Rita sitting at his bedside, reading a heavy-looking book. She's wearing the tank top and shorts she had on when they first met in Alola, and she looks no worse for wear, though she has a new pair of large, feathered wings awkwardly tucked behind her while she sits.

He might vaguely recall seeing her like this at some point while he was drifting in and out of consciousness over the past couple days. Apparently, she's made a few visits in this short time.]

[steadydollypegs]

[Waking Up]

Doll has many memories of sleeping on cardboard, in doorways, on benches-- anywhere, really-- but she's never felt this disoriented waking up on the ground. Her head is spinning, her balance is all screwed up from her left eye returning to its former state, and for a good few seconds she has no idea where she is or why. She looks wildly around for Knotley or Joker or Snake, and slowly the world comes into focus. Trailers, the carnival. Yes, she was with a carnival and then... Portland? She'd had no idea where Portland was before a few weeks ago, she's from England for God's sake.

Her fingers slide under her bangs and a cold chill runs down her spine. No scales anymore, but the smooth and puckered skin of her burn is studded with what feels like small stones or gems. And turning her head knocks something into the ground-- a horn? An antler? She can't see, there's no reflective surface around, she's panicking. The parts of her that say this is normal and expected are vying for dominance over the parts of her that tell her this is abnormal and wrong and terrifying, and not knowing how to feel is what's ultimately causing her hands to shake. She needs someone more solid and steady than she is right now.

"Joker!!" She shouts, like she's five again and lost him in a crowd. Where is he? Is he okay? Does he need help? Oh God, where is he, she can't lose him again, what if Knotley hurt him as the Severing fell apart, or kept Snake? It feels like she's been beaten, but she struggles to get her legs under her nonetheless-- she has to find him, has to find Snake, has to find her family.


[Summer People]

The place they've landed is beautiful, it's true, and Doll wants to enjoy it. She's never seen such a beautiful place before, and even the yard in the workhouse had seemed like paradise all those years ago. This is exquisite, comparatively. Any other day, Doll would be running barefoot through the gently sloping fields, napping in the tall grass, and dancing all night before doing it all again the next day.

She can't, though. The ringmaster's words are still laying heavily on her shoulders, reminding her that somewhere inside her is a part of herself that wasn't as brave as she thought. Some part of her is just like Phantomhive, like Smile-- willing to tie herself to something murderous and twisted until she moved on his strings like a puppet, like a plaything. Like that demon's 'Dolly'.

Just remembering his voice makes her skin crawl, and the bruises he gave her from yanking her around aren't going to fade soon enough. Somehow, he took Snake too, because she didn't say no hard enough. She hadn't protected him enough. Just that fleeting thought is always enough to make her nose go red and tear up, no matter where she is or what she's doing.

She realizes it's happening again as a few fae are cooing over how cute she is and weaving flowers into her hair and around her little antlers. They look worried as she tears up, concerned that they've done something to hurt or upset her, but Doll shakes her head and tries to say she's alright, but all that comes out are little stutters and half-sobs. They look guiltily at whoever is witnessing this, and start to slink away. Maybe this is something better suited to someone with the carnival.

BEEP BEEP BIG BROTHER TIME

[pipers_son]

For a good few minutes, all Joker can do is lay on the ground, barely interacting with anything or anyone else. His mind is torn between two different kind of people- or at least different enough that he doesn't know what to do with each other. For years, now, he's come to dully accept that he's not a good person. He's selfish, and has done horrible things because of it- that he'd gotten a demon in him had seemed almost like natural cause and effect.

The angel in that other life hadn't been anything like that.

Doll's voice snaps him right out of it. Before he can even think properly, realize what he's doing, he's leaping up onto his feet and almost falls face-first because of it. If there's one thing that him and that angel had in common, it's wings, at least. Those get him airborn faster than his feet can get under him. Immediately, he's calling out for her. "Doll! Where are ya?"

[espigeon]

WAKING UP: The first thing Julien does finding himself here and something like himself is open his inventory again and haul out his human body. Not caring that it's soaked to the skin, he throws his arms around his thick-ruffed neck and pulls himself closer with a folded wing. He doesn't cry, he doesn't speak, he just sits like that for a while. He needs the contact, and who's closer than yourself?

He is a sight. A scalded, bedraggled pigeon the size of a microcar, with a small young man drenched in seawater hanging off him. Later he'll remember he was trying to hide that he's a two-parter. Right now it just doesn't matter.

Eventually he opens his eyes and, oh, that's more than he was expecting. It takes a while to figure it out. He's carried that weird fluid angel tendency for eyes to appear and disappear, except these aren't really set into his flesh. It's not too big a deal. His bird eyes have a really wide field of view, and he's had some practice looking at the world out of four which normally aren't pointed in the same direction, this is just an expansion of that. And if the eyes appear and disappear and are kinda hovering against him like his inventory portal, that's honestly for the good, they're not fragile and vulnerable in the same way as his actual eyes.

SUMMER CITY: His unharmed human body is just too small compared to his scorched bird one to help it move around much, and there's a while where he doesn't want to move them too far apart. It's just so reassuring to care and be cared for, even if he's aware the whole time that he's playing both roles. Still, he's got a healing factor. Within a few days his bird self can be seen dozing in the sun or half submerged in the lake, while at the same time his human body is in the city. Or it goes the other way around! The fae obligingly find his plumage elegant and appealing and enjoy his guitar skills. It's kind of nice.

He's not easily recognizable as Iuliael, though his voice and the eyes that appear over his skin and feathers and clothes are the same. Over the next few weeks he's able to control them better, but more tend to appear when he's interested or excited about something.

WILD CARD? ?

Summer City

[pipers_son]

Considering he- or rather the angel version of him- didn't have too much personal trouble with the Summer Fae of Portland and that he's been here before, Joker has no issue with wandering through the city. There are familiar faces here, after all, although all of them are arguably familiar considering.... you know.

So he's simply passing by when he hears the sound of Julian's guitar.... and, more importantly, the sound of his voice as he talks to a few of the fae around. He pauses for a second before venturing a little closer. He doesn't say anything, not right now- what is he even supposed to say? 'Hey so we were both weird angels, how about that'? Instead, he just stays quiet, listening.

TAAKO

[tacosgay]

Waking up

Taako awakes in a whole lot of pain. There are other things that he notices, of course-- the color of the sky, the fact that he's outside instead of on the floor of the ritual site like he was when he apparently blacked out, the fact that he's not alone-- but the most overwhelming thing of all is the pain. Breathing hurts, existing hurts, everything hurts. For several minutes, it's all he can do to just lay there, staring up at that blue, blue sky, trying to figure out how to breathe without jarring his apparently still partially-broken ribs.

He never really sorts it out. He also certainly can't pick himself up.

It's not long before he's offered a bit of help by... a fae. Well, he can appreciate irony, and he certainly accepts it; while it's not a perfect fix, it leaves him able to get up and move himself to his trailer, which is where he's presently headed, an arm wrapped around his aching chest. He's still got his horns, though in a much smaller size, and... his face is glowing...? Somehow, in the transition between places, he's managed to pick up a couple of new features, one of which seems to be that his freckles are glowing a faint purple.

He's not aware of that himself, however. Right now, he's pretty focused on just getting back to his trailer so he can collapse and not talk to anyone for a while, because fuck this. Fuck all of this, and fuck existing, and fuck fae.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

One of Zecora's highest priorities in this moment was: look out for people trying to avoid proper medical care when wounded or in physical pain. Which she figured was probably everypony in the carnival. Not without cause, but whatever.

So she quickly stepped into his path, not confrontational but definitely inclined to stop him. "Please do not fight.
I must make sure you're all right."

Closed to Scout!

[whattaprick]

Lambert's location isn't terribly difficult to pinpoint, given that he's been fortunate enough to pass out next to some of the game stalls, where he was audibly yelling at the Ringmaster on the radio (how that ended up on his person anyway, who even knows?) before exhaustion and the excitement of everything else caught up to him at once.

By the time Scout finds him, he's alone. The last two people he was beside have been flung elsewhere in the haphazard ride back, and he's not looking great. Pale from shock, even with Steven's fledgling recovery powers pulling him back from the brink of death, he's still a mess. Crusted with dried blood around his nose and ears, he's thoroughly unconscious, and yeah, he's going to be a pain in the ass to budge, especially now that being back in the Carnival has reverted him to his previous appearance.

He is, however, breathing steadily, so that's something. And they're out of Portland, which must surely count for something.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Scout feels like she's stepped out of a sauna into cold clear air. In Portland she'd been an entirely different person, just about. She'd known something about the raid and quite deliberately decided against participating, entirely because it promised a lot of combat and she wasn't a fighter. That's all but unimaginable. That whole month, she'd just kept her head down and got on with a small life.

The worst part is probably the irrational guilt and fresh sense of loss. Too many of her brothers and sisters and others of the Order are dead for her to even be able to name them all. She hadn't thought about them at all. Remembering them again, and how they had been murdered, is like a blow. But she can't stop and try to handle it, try to manage that incredible weight of thousands of people, because as always things are happening, and as always it's a relief. She still cries, though.

Scout really isn't sure if the Force helps her out looking for the Nightrider after he collapses, or if he was just conveniently in a nearby location and she went the right way. In either case it's a bad moment when she sees him - she remembers her second Master, seeing him cut down, the way he'd fought at the edge of death to speak to her. Scout has to blink away fresh tears. It's different, of course. She's had a lot more experience with dying and wounded people since then, and can see even at a blurred glance that he's breathing steadily. She still surveys Lambert carefully and gets to her knees to get a closer look - since her feet changed, crouching is a lot farther from the ground.

"If you wake up and have a crack about my face, I'm choking you out cold again," she informs him before wiping her eyes on her sleeve and laying a hand across his throat, calling on her little Force talent to check his status from the inside, see if she needs to stop any bleeding and if it'll be safe to move him at all. She can only read so much about a body outside of injuries and toxins and so on, but he's an odd one. Even ignoring the fae elements.

Rita Mordio | OTA, will match formats

[anti_nonsense]

(a: waking up / missing blastia)

With a grunt, Rita pushes herself up to her feet, staring around groggily at the others. It looks like they made it back alive, even if some of them are worse for wear. Rita's finally herself again... but even this body doesn't feel entirely right. Feathers have grown over her shoulders, and her tail's back... not that she really got used to it, before. She's still wearing a worn-out biker jacket, and...

Her hands fly to her bare neck, feeling over it desperately. "No," she gasps, twisting her body around to look. "Where... where is she!?" She sounds panicked.

(b: carnival: training grounds)

If someone happens to be near the carnival training grounds, they will probably hear a thunderous crash as one of the training dummies goes flying, propelled into the air by a stalagmite conjured with Rita's magic.

By the time it lands, Rita's already conjuring a new spell, aimed at one of the other dummies. There's a glimmer of sweat on her face; she's been at this for a while. She's also sporting her newly-grown wings, which flick out in brief motions as she exerts herself. With a scream of frustration, she unleashes her next spell: a pillar of flames pushing the dummy up into a large sphere of fire, where an inferno rages within it. It's a good thing she made those magic-resistant dummies, as a straw one would be reduced to ash.

In any case, it's pretty clear that Rita's just trying to blow off some steam, even if it probably is an annoyance to those in the vicinity. But perhaps you'd like to watch, or even join her? Or maybe you'll wait until she's done and worn herself out before approaching; could be safer, that way.

(c: summer city)

At some point, eventually, Rita gets the nerve to visit the Summer City... but she's visibly tense as she looks around, giving any fae who meets her gaze some serious cut-eye. One among them is brave enough to approach and graciously invite her to dinner... but the response is about what can be expected from Rita right now.

"Get lost. Like I'm going to eat your food."

Was that too rude? Or just rude enough? The fae, at least, seems to be taking it in stride, raising hands in a pacifying gesture and backing away with a simple nod to acknowledge that answer.

(d: wildcard!)

Rita will be spending much of the first week in the carnival. She can be found in her trailer, blowing off steam at the training ground, watching the stars and brooding at the lakeside, or walking around from place to place. From Day 140 onward, she will have grown new wings, which she is not at all used to and will probably get them caught in doors, or accidentally swing them in people's faces. After the first week, she can be found around the Summerlands from time to time, but she'll be noticeably uncomfortable most of the time she's there.

There's also a plotting comment for her. I'm up for making unique starters, or just having a scene thrown at me and rolling with it!

closed to childermass / trailer, early in the week

[anti_nonsense]

Rita was sleeping rather peacefully, twisted around in her blankets in some weird position, like she usually is. But she awakens to the foreign feeling of feathers brushing against her face, and when she opens her eyes, she sees a whole curtain of red and black plumage in front of her. Not only that, but something feels really weird. It takes a minute for her to comprehend what it is, but when the realization hits her, it hits her hard.

Childermass will, mostly likely, be awakened by a piercing shriek coming from the bunk above him. This is followed by some panicked scrambling, and then...

WHUMP.

Rita falls right out of her bed, down to the floor, her new wings splayed out against the walls and furniture - whatever's around. "Ow..." Lying on her back, Rita squirms a bit more, groaning in pain at the uncomfortable landing. It doesn't take long for her to go right back to freaking out. "What the hell!?" She's feeling pain through appendages that she's pretty sure she didn't have yesterday.

Gongenzaka | OTA

[otoko]

['Waking' | Zangetsu]

[He hadn't thought much about where Sherlock was, in that fight. Naturally, he'd remembered everything on the scene-but there had been more important things to focus on, things like getting the ritual set up and finished. Appearing alone and in his original body hadn't even brought Sherlock to mind-if he'd been elsewhere, he'd have been reclaimed no doubt...and he was more worried for Yuuya, at that time.

Yuuya was alright-or at least as alright as he could be with the spiritual recovery. Gongenzaka and him had promised to speak later, and for now the boy was on bedrest. It was over this time that he realized, of course, that a month had apparently actually gone by. His thoughts wandered, and the closer he got to his trailer, the more he grew tense.

Sherlock likely left...Things. In the fridge.

Things that would have been there. A month.

He grimaces more visibly, and comes to the trailer property.

(With his luck, the roommate he Isn't expecting has already gotten through that fridge)]

[Summer Times, Summer Fae]

[Now that things were calming down, Gongenzaka was more than taking advantage of the peace in the Summerlands. Not to vacation, or anything like that however-no, instead he busied himself with what he had intended to focus on a month ago. A month ago, he had asked the Ringmaster for advice.

He'd gotten it, which meant focusing on this spell. Over the first few days, he meditates at the side of one of the lakes the fae are lounging beside. Later in the week however, as he hones his focus, Gongenzaka takes a deep breath...and steps onto the water.

Two steps, then three...eventually he's sitting at its middle, focusing and breathing deep-his aura glows, but at night in particular it's an impressive sight. A number of Summer fae are 'helping'-or rather, challenging him by dancing around along the water nearby, throwing their own lights along with it-but the most eye catching is without a doubt Gongenzaka himself. With his energy focused, his aura flares into a brilliant blue shine, curling through his leaves, reflecting off the water...

Don't ruin his focus, please.]

[WILDCARD - Got something else in mind? Hit me up!]

Waking

[moonfang]

[Zangetsu doesn't have nearly as much baggage, emotional or physical, after the fiasco in Portland. He seemed to be one of the few who didn't have a single drop of his "other self's" personality and memories tainting his own. But he felt for the others, to an extent. He really did! Their souls were in absolute chaos, some barely holding themselves together as they tried to reconcile. He was amazed they weren't all dead. He was amazed they weren't all dead and Hollowfied!

But hey, maybe things worked different here in faerie land.

The trailer seems to be just as Gongenzaka left it, except for one thing -- sitting in the sun out front is a group of human bones, cleaned of almost all their meat. There's a handwritten note (in Japanese, and in English below it) that says "DO NOT TOUCH". They're laid out in an orderly fashion and clearly placed there deliberately]

Zecora, OTA

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Waking

[Zecora shoots upright -- upright onto her hind legs, where she trembles for just a moment before dropping to all four hooves. The sudden rush of sensations is too much for a moment; she shuts her eyes, focusing her thoughts on absolutely nothing save a gently-mumured phrase in Zebra to clear her mind and focus her thoughts.]

[Focus. Control. Compartmentalize. Calm.]

[She lets a shiver run over her body, reacquainting herself with her equine form, right down to the flick of her tail. There is so much for her to address, and no time at all. For now, she lifts her voice to address the crowd nearby.]

Let out a yelp
If you need my help.

[Hopefully her familiar rhymes will help provide order to the chaos and reassurance to the confused.]

The Medical Tent

[Few surer signs that normalcy has returned exist than Zecora working hard in her domain, with cots set out for the injured and a half-dozen cauldrons on the boil. The Doctor is swift and efficient as always, and moving with a bit more inspiration than she might have thought -- years of human medical school and practice still lurk in her brain, giving her more insight into treating humans than she had ever before had.]

[And yet, in the moments when she stirs her cauldrons or steps aside for a moment, her gaze drifts far away, thoughts crowding in along the outer fringes of her mind that she has no preparation, time, or ability to deal with. For once, the sole duties of her job are a blessing that keep her from thinking too much.]

The Medical Tent

[pipers_son]

[The quiet shift of feathers against feathers announces Joker's presence just before his voice speaks up.]

Zecora? Ya doin' alright there?

[She's the hardest worker out of the whole carnival, in Joker's opinion, and it's a little worrying to see her space out for a quick second there, even if she clearly had taken time for it herself.]

CARLY | OTA

[fortuneglass]

[Waking Up]

[She awakes with little fanfare. Her eyes catch the familiar sight of the lake, the heat of the hot-springs behind her. When she sits up, she sees black-black, touched by orange glow, and grimaces. Aslla Piscu of course, comments-chuckles about how it's how she's looked for an age, she never hated it until now-

And Carly hisses.] ...You were safe until now.

Safe? [The shadow laughs, unable to hold himself back. Not with the knowledge that his time is borrowed, and certainly not when he needs to clearly turn all his focus toward some other plan.

Carly beats him there.] ...Safe..! Or at the very least... ...even if I was wrong, and even if you were never going to change, we had people here to stop you if you even thought of it! [Carly shouts, feathers fluffed and bristling even as bit by bit they fall.

Like ashes, melting into the shadows.] ...All of this...I told myself, if it meant you could never do anything again, it was worth it...that it was the 'good' I took, [she confesses, shaking.] That it was what I could make good..!

[Aslla's chuckling is dark.] Ahhhhh... ...But then you were just as bad...weren't you?

[And Carly's breath hitches, before she shouts-] No-!

Not as bad as YOU! ...But I... ... [...She is better than this, she thinks. She's better, she needs to talk to the Ringmaster, she can do better-

The Ringmaster, as it seems but a moment on the radio after, is 'expiring'.]

Well what now? It seems you're stuck...~

[Carly's body seems wreathed in heat-her eyes are screwed shut, and her markings blaze with light as she seethes.] I...am stuck with NO ONE..!

[There is, perhaps, a muffled shout from the shadow-the eyes fading, until they vanish. And with a deep breath, she sits back and collapses against the rocky steps to the hot springs, sighing.

When she opens her eyes, they have white sclera again. If at least for the few minutes she can close off that end of the bond.]

[Chill Break]

[As days pass, she can at least feign better spirits. The Ringmaster will return in a while, and then she can get to the 'crux' of the problem. She sorts out the stock for Wardrobe, clears out anything that's become moth-eaten in the last month, sets up a possible roster check (She considers, for a moment, waiting until the Ringmaster has returned so that she can make certain she doesn't count anyone missing, or miss anyone who should count)...

Carly is wearing more covering things these days; while what's visible is still inky and black, feathers are still molting and flaking off from beneath the fabric, generally landing in the shadows to melt to nothing. Whatever is under there, she isn't saying, merely sticking to a long sundress/sun-shawl combo and focusing on her work. A little obsessively so, some might say, and she has Nuna the marowak ready to bean anyone who tries to argue with her in the toes.

It is most peaceful in the light of the summerlands, she feels. Peaceful, and quiet, and every now and then she can be seen working through some sketches or ideas for the costumes that will need to be re-made, or simply made at all.

...She also, occasionally, flips through the pages of a certain book, jotting down various repeating words on one page in a spare notebook, and other, remaining ones in other pages. Hmmmm...]

[Heat-Wave]

[You know what's fun? Fire. Fire is probably nothing that should be CONSIDERED fun, mind you, but she finds it fun and frankly she's not going to learn how to not hurt anyone with it if she never practices with it. Flames of blended violet and orange are what she seems to dance with-painting lines along the ground in circles, raising walls high, and then low, the motions matching to a strange dance as she hovers. She tries to trail it behind her for a bit as well-though for now the fire keeps slowly falling to the ground as water would, the woman frowning as it does so.

It is an almost beautiful dance.

It would be entirely beautiful if it wasn't for the reminder it likely gives to a few others.]

[WILDCARD - Want to go for something else? Carly will be either practicing magic in the Summerlands, or attending to Supervisor duties in the Wardrobe tent, so hit me up!]

fire burning

[kingsroads]

[ Strange can sense the magic before he sees it. It's odd, a nostalgic sensation that reminds him of...Portland? How weird. And how weird that he's able to tell this much about the magic now. He's always been a bit magically sensitive, but this is more than he was expecting.

So, he follows the sensation to find Carly, literally playing with fire. And Strange just watches, leaning against a nearby tree as he watches the fire swoop through the air, dance on the ground, and so all other sorts of graceful tricks. This is what he loves about magic. The sheer wonder of it and the sheer fun for the spellcaster. ]

That was beautiful, [ he'll eventually say, once it looks like Carly's finished or is in a point in her routine where he can start conversation. ]

Jack Atlas | OTA

[kingofd]

waking up;
[Jack sighs, opening his eyes to stare blearily at the bright blue sky above. He lays there for awhile, paying little mind to the people around him as they come to their senses. When it suddenly hits him that he wasn't where he should be, Jack bolts upright and looks around him, jaw slackened before he snaps it shut.]

So we're out... [His body feels stiff as he tries to stand, and Jack notices something alarming about the way his clothes brush against his skin. Looking down at his hands, but they're covered by gloves, and the rest of him is covered from head to toe. Of course, he can't see the scales that have crept their way up his neck and the sides of his face.

To no one in particular, he calls out.] Where are we?

summer children;
[It's really not clear how he ended up here; sitting with his arms and legs folded as several child fae dance to music around him. Jack's been decorated, likely not of his own volition, with a flower crown and some glitter. They've also affixed long ribbons to him, with each fae holding one as they circle round.

While he's slowly being gift wrapped, he seems to be paying little mind to what they're doing.]

Summer Children

[hippocarnival]

[It's been a few days since Yuya's been coherent again and Yuya has decided that is quite enough bedrest for him. So he slips out to the Summerlands.

Of course Yuya is making his way straight for Jack the Maypole when he sees him. He stops a few feet from them, teetering slightly before he balances himself (he's not going to fall over this time--) and lets out a winded breath. He still looks too weak to be out of bed but that has little chance of stopping him by this point.]

Hi, Jack. Having fun? [His tone doesn't even sound mocking. Even if Jack isn't, the children clearly are.]

Ginko | OTA

[dontpokethat]

A - Around the Carnival/Menagerie

So that was… a lot to take in. A lot to process, a lot to think about-- but before he can even start thinking it over, Ginko realizes he has a more urgent problem, in the form of the menagerie animals running free around the carnival grounds.

In a way, it’s a welcome distraction. Dealing with new memories, new feelings that weren’t there before… he doesn’t even know where to start with that. But loose animals, he knows how to handle. ...Even if being able to just rest for a while would have been appreciated.

Oh, well. As soon as he’s seen and heard enough from the other workers to be confident that nobody is dead, Ginko throws himself right into his work - starting with rounding up the escaped animals. He’s in near-constant motion for quite a while, hauling or pushing or guiding various animals back toward the menagerie, or checking up on those that he’s successfully brought back.

Even when he’s not working with the animals, he’s stopping by the medical tent, checking by to see how those still suffering the after-effects of the ritual are doing. He’ll try and help out with medical work, where he can - even if he can’t do a lot, he wouldn’t feel right standing by and not doing anything at all.

B - Trailer 13

Eventually, with the animals back in their enclosures and checked up on, Ginko makes his way back to the trailer he shares with Tanyuu and… passes the fuck out. Finally. Holy shit.

He sleeps for a good few hours, and even after he wakes up he sticks around the general vicinity of the trailer for a while. In theory, he’s checking up on the plants around the trailer - though, with Tanyuu’s magic, there isn’t a whole lot he’s got to worry about. All the same, it’s nice to just… hang around and relax, with Miu - back to being a spewpa, all fluff, occasionally shedding confetti - scurrying around his legs and the surrounding area.

C - Summerlands

This isn’t Ginko’s first time in the Summerlands - which is probably why he’s so willing to be in a place populated by summer fae at all, after… well, all that. He probably won’t be kidnapped here, and he knows it.

He’s mostly keeping his distance from the city itself, which, honestly, could just as easily be attributed to his discomfort with cities in general, but… yeah, the whole ‘memories of having his life ruined by faeries’ thing might have to do with it too.

Instead, he’s spending most of his time in the surrounding fields and mountains, enjoying the warmth and the wilderness after a month of cold city air. His first impulse is, as always, to try and climb a tree and get a good look at his surroundings, but… as he’s found before, caribou hooves aren’t great for that, so his success is variable to say the least.

Other times, enjoying the weather seems to just mean… well, sleeping. Out in one of the flower-filled fields.

Normal.

D - Wildcard

(( OOC: Come at me with something else! Or message me at omixgirl10! ))

A

[pipers_son]

A lot of things happened before he heard Ginko's message, and, in a way, Joker is glad for the distraction of fussing over the other man. The Ringmaster's message is still weighing on him but, honestly, it wasn't necessary either. He gnaws on it in his head enough, what it meant that the other him was what he was in contrast to Joker himself who, just a few hours ago, well.... It's as he said: he's not on fire anymore.

Along with such inner nonsense, however, there's the mundane problems, too, and Feathers the Dartix is flying along with him as well as the pair of them glide through the air and start circling around the lake looking for Ginko. When the feathered pair spot him, Joker starts to go in low for a landing.

"'Ey, Ginko." Don't mind him if he looks a little red eyed, just- ignore that. Yeah.

[control_freak]

A. The Right To Bear Arms

For the first 3-4 days, no one sees much of Foster at all. This is because he wasn't leaving his trailer, which he conveniently had all to himself--the better to support his miserable mood. Eventually, though, hunger drives him out into the daylight. Where he already feels like a spectacle.

He looks rather different now than he used to. His crinkled blond hair is much longer and much less under control than before, being piled up into an extremely inadequate attempt at a bun (or... something) in the back. And there's a new fae mark on his chest, right where the Angel at the ritual stabbed him.

His arms are a lot hairier, too.

Furry, even.

Okay, they're bear arms. Literally. Long, thick, wavy blond fur covers both of his arms, and his shoulders, and part of his back, ending in massive furry bear paws, complete with dark green paw pads and several-inch-long claws.

He's lucky he still has thumbs.

But they're not helping him very much right now.

Because it turns out that no matter how many times you try to pick up a fork with one a couple inches of of paw and several inches of murdertalon, you're going to drop it. On the ground, on the table, in your lap.

You might even flip it directly onto your neighbour's plate.

"Fuck. Ah, no--goddamn--! Fuck."

B. Magic Man (TW: dead bird. But it gets better. Kind of.)

The only other reason Foster is going outside is that it's really, really hard to write and erase magical circles on your carpet and linoleum. After a certain point, you get tired of cleaning it up so you can do something else.

Outside, you can write on whatever, or carve sigils into the dirt, or whatever you want, and it's no meat off anybody's nose.

And the Summerlands are full of fields and soil..... and magic. They're also very bright. And so the first day or so of that is spent squinting basically any time he sets foot outside. But he's discovering that his claws are useful for at least that much. Find a bear bare patch of earth, start with a circle, and keep going.

It's a good distraction from what's troubling him--sure, the dead bird in the middle of the design might be kind of distressing, but at least there's only a little blood around the beak. Otherwise, it looks perfectly whole.

Which is a lot better than what happens when he works on mice.

C. Closed to Peridot

Peridot is surprisingly difficult to find for such a loud... uh, person. But she's one of the very few people he actually wants to see. Learning Amethyst was gone--and that she had not only gone home, but had not said anything to or about him--had confirmed the worst for him. But he also owes Peridot an apology. Or maybe not 'owes.' But something is still bothering him. A lot.

For a lot of reasons.

One might even say it's getting hard to bear.

Anyway.

The problem is that he won't go anywhere near Zecora or her tent, and from what he's heard, there's a very real possibility that's where Peridot may be.

Still, he keeps turning up around her trailer, almost as if he's hoping she'll show her face.

Almost.

D. Wild Card

THIS IS LONG ENOUGH so surprise me with something else. Or hit me up at railehatesfun

A

[amusicaladventure]

Ash dodged a fork.

Man, she really hoped that wasn't on purpose... She couldn't even fake a cheerful mood as she approached, because this was going to be so awkward and painful and embarrassing. Maybe literally on the painful, given Foster's current mood and the fact that, well, she couldn't pretend she hadn't done a hell of a lot to provoke him.

"Uh, hey," she said to the table in Foster's general direction.

Tamaki | OTA

[puddingemote]

A: Home Again

The first thing Tamaki notices is that, for the first time in more or less a month, he can actually feel things: the grass under his hands, the wind on his face, even just the cloth of his clothing on his body is a visceral sensation now. For awhile, he just sits and enjoys his new state, until he remembers a few things about having a living body.

For one, he's really, really hungry.

He takes awhile before he finally gets into the cookhouse, and awhile to find anything that didn't go bad in the month the Carnival sat empty. He still finds enough food to hunker down at a table and start stuffing his face.

Food feels so good again.

B: Summer City

This is Tamaki's first time in the Summerlands, so there's a lot to see. He takes some time to wander about the city, just enjoying the day and looking at all the flowers and other pleasant scenery. This sort of world isn't really his thing, per se, but he's hardly going to ask to leave somewhere that feels so safe now.

He waves at anyone from the Carnival he sees, and might even stop and say, "Hey!" if they don't look like they're in any particular hurry.

He hasn't noticed that he doesn't have a shadow yet, but that's not important.

A

[steadydollypegs]

Doll is also really, really hungry. Not as hungry as Tamaki is, but still, she decides she needs warm food after changing her clothes and checking on her injury. Once those things are squared away she hops over to the cookhouse.

When she gets there, though, all of it just feels so overwhelming. Going from scraping to get enough to eat to food in abundance makes her feel a little sick. She ends up with a cup of tea and cookie. It's a start.

She spots Tamaki eating up a storm, and she imagines she'd do the same if she hadn't eaten for a month. Is it weird, though? Was he having the same difficulty trying to fit together his previous-- er-- afterlife with his very real one? Doll catches his eye after staring awkwardly for a few minutes, and waves a little. Her face is pink and she looks tired around the eyes, but she's trying to smile. She's glad he made it back, that's something.

Jonathan Strange | ota!

[kingsroads]

[day 139: the carnival]
Strange wouldn't say that he lived in squalor, but he wasn't exactly the most clean person around. It's a combination of not wanting to think about things, week old dirty dishes turning to month old dirty dishes, and the memories of his Portland self's apartment (seriously, it was bad) that drive Strange to actually clean out his trailer for once.

Plus, you didn't have to deal with other people while cleaning. At least, you didn't have to deal with other people until a task came that required two people or a little bit of assistance. And what do you know, he's come upon one of those tasks.

He's opened the doors and the windows of the trailer to air out the trailer, but it also gives the benefit of hearing other people walk past. So, as he hears footsteps outside the trailer, Strange calls out, not even bothering to see who it is,

"Over here! Can I ask you for a brief favor?"

[day 140-142: summer city]
It is 3pm and Jonathan Strange is drunk. So, you know, he's coping amazingly well. He's in the city proper, in an open courtyard area, where some fae are spending their time playing music and dancing. It's a set dance, which involves swapping partners, lots of twirling, and plenty of moving about in a circle. The music (which sounds oddly like an Irish folk tune) is provided by two fae, one on a drum and one on a weird fae instrument that looks like a violin but with multiple necks. Strange actually isn't too bad at the dance, though he'd certainly be a lot better if he wasn't drunk. Then again, he probably wouldn't do this in the first place if he wasn't drunk.

It's partly due to this drunkenness that makes him decide that this poor carnival worker who most likely doesn't want to be here, would be an excellent dancing partner. "Come on!" he says, with a laugh, as he tries to pull them in the circle. "Dance with me."

[day 143 onwards]
Strange's liver has officially decided to protest and he's far too embarrassed to continue to ask the Summer Fae for hangover remedies so the repression bender's been put on a bit of a halt. He still spends most of his time in the summerlands, gossiping with various fae, exploring the city, or relaxing in one of those large fields of flowers, laying down on a blanket and reading a book.

But occasionally, he has to come back to the carnival. After all, they've got performances coming up and he's terribly out of shape. Strange practices in the big top, near the lake shore, and in an open space near his trailer. His magic is large and flashy, though watch for a while and you'll see that Strange is repeating the same spells, trying to get them hammered down to near-perfection. Water jumps from cup to cup. Various animals form from the sand, some more expected of a circus (lions, elephants) and some not expected at all (there's a sand Growlithe at one point, though the dog does look kind of off). The air picks up a handful of flower petals, swirling them around in various patterns before the petals rain down on Strange and any people who've come to watch. And, most importantly, for the first time in ages, Strange seems relaxed.

142: Summer City

[hippocarnival]

In Yuya's defense, he made it two days before he actually snuck his way out of the carnival. But it still takes him most of the afternoon to get this far, and by the time he's within city limits he's exhausted. He slumps on one of the benches, leaning against a pillar as he settles for just watching the dancing fae. He's not really a dancing guy anyway.

These Fae seem different from the Summer Court, but he's still a little wary despite other people's assurances, so he wants to see them for himself.

But that means when he sees Strange making his way through the crowd he jerks up out of pure reaction. He looks happy, but not in the... focused way.

He makes no move to get up any further. "You know, I don't really--are you okay?"

Peridot | OTA (mostly)

[periphrasing]

A) A very mandatory recovery period (OTA)
Peridot is hardly the only carnival member to made it back from Portland in less than stellar condition, but she is sporting one of the more peculiar injuries of the lot. "Soul damage", the Ringmaster had called it, during that single radio conversation they'd had shortly before she'd gone off and... expired, or however it was that she had described that little stunt. And wow. THAT sure was a thing. Peridot had, despite her condition, made herself available at the emergency supervisor's meeting that had followed, attending out of a stubborn, rigid sense of duty.

But that was the last time she would be seen outside of the supervisor's grove for the next several days following. Turns out, getting ritualistically stabbed through the soul? Really sucks. Peridot has never experienced the likes of such sheer pain and discomfort before in her thousands of years of life. Like, sure, gems can get injured! They can feel pain, and exhaustion, heck, in her own personal experience, she has had literal boulders dropped on her, and been crushed by large metal machinery that was falling from a great height. Out of all of those horrible, agonizing experiences, none of that even comes CLOSE in comparison to this.

So yeah. She's not going anywhere for a bit. Those who have heard of her noble sacrifice and wish to pay her a visit can find her in her trailer in the Supervisor's Grove. Laying on her bunk. Groaning. Whining. Probably complaining loudly and asking people to poof her so she doesn't have to deal with being conscious for the healing process, because laying around doing fuck all is the absolute worst.

B) It's angst farming. We're farming angst. (Closed to Steven)
As it turns out, five days is about the limit of what Peridot can take on the whole "sit in one spot and do nothing..." thing. Part of her restlessness could be attributed to Amethyst's departure, which she's still feeling pretty miserable about. She'd actually considered going back to their own world for a brief visit herself, but her injuries pretty much made that not an option. Later in the week, perhaps.

Portland was... a lot. For a lot of people. Peridot is feeling the absence of friends here, but also confusion about her "family" from there... it's a lot to cope with, and now one of her best friends isn't even around to help her through it. As a remedy she's been looking for a new project to throw herself at in the meantime, while she tries to make sense of it all. Something to keep her focused and occupied so that she's not just sitting around mulling the same questions over and over and over in her head.

She remembers that the last time she'd felt such pangs of loneliness and restlessness, she'd picked up farming. Well... She may know now that corn isn't going to talk back to her, but the idea of planting, of making something grow for a change, is an appealing one. That's why she's down near the lake now, scoping out potential plots of land that she can turn into a garden instead of resting like she should probably still be doing.

...A lot of this scoping seems to involve feebly dragging herself around so she can scoop up claw-fulls of dirt, and lifting the soil to her face so that she can lick it. Mlem.

C) Down at the obstacle course (Later in the week). (OTA)
Not being a fighter, Peridot doesn't usually have much cause to come down to the training grounds anymore, now that construction is finished. But today, she actually has a reason to be here! A new part of her physical form that requires further testing and investigation.

It's a prehensile tail. Or to be more accurate, it's still her old tail, but it has suddenly become prehensile following her return from Portland. She wants to see what it can really do. So if you're down in the area for some practice, you may just come across a tiny green gem clumsily scampering all over the climbing based obstacles, swinging upside down and catching herself with a tail that basically functions as a third arm now.

Despite her energetic motions, she does not seem like she's in a particularly good mood.

D) Wildcard!
Peridot will be spending most of her time on the carnival grounds rather than in the Summer City, but you may spot her out there as well since she'll be there looking for seeds to bring back for the farm.

C

[hippocarnival]

The obstacle course seems like a good place for Yuya to try and stretch his limbs before attempting any death-defying acrobatic stunts. He's not near enough shape to perform, but light exercise should be fine by this point, right? He can feel his strength returning, even if it's only a little bit.

He doesn't join Peridot, though. At first he just watches her from the sidelines until her swinging around finally turns towards him--and then he offers her a smile and an enthusiastic wave.

Good to know she's recovering, too.

Miko Nakadai | OTA

[pullingamiko]

A - Waking Up

Okay. First of all, holy shit what was that.

It takes a few moments for her brain to catch up with… everything. She was in Portland, trying to find Peridot and Lambert, to find this whole ritual thing so she could do something, but she didn’t even know where to start, and--

And now she’s here, in… a carnival? The carnival.

What the fuck.

As soon as she’s gotten her bearings even a little bit, she jumps upright, nearly toppling over-- her legs are back to how they were before, with long, clawed kangaroo feet. In an effort to keep her balance, she throws out her hands----

--Correction, her paws, cyan pads and all. She shakes her head hurriedly and looks around; paws are weird, but they kind of don’t compare to… everything else right now. “Okay, what the crap was that? Is everyone… I dunno, in one piece?”

B - Wildcard

(( OOC: Since I am all out of Prompt Juice let me know if you want to do something else with Miko!! She’ll be exploring the Summerlands as well as running around the carnival grounds as usual. ))

[amusicaladventure]

"Physically, yes," said a voice from the grass, one arm stretching up so she could point skywards to emphasize the 'but' she didn't give voice to. "Wherever we are, it's not where we were, so hashtag winning, I guess?"

REIRA | NEWBIE, DAY 145 ONWARD (OTA)

[soft_focus]

[I'm Waking Up]

[Reira's arrival was not messy, by any means, but it was not typical either. Perhaps it was to get something over with-perhaps it was getting around to a contract for someone who had helped so significantly to return the carnival to where it should have been. A thank-you, without words, and so awkwardly put. The reasoning could have only been known to the Ringmaster herself-but for whatever reason, Reira was here.

And panicked, for a brief instance, when she could not feel the presence of the spirit she'd sealed inside herself. It took a bit of debate, of course-no doubt the far elder of the two felt the entire chat rather silly. But Reira insisted-that she had felt sadness and pain rather than anger, that the spirit she had contained deserved a second chance. Even if only to reincarnate, even if only to start again in an infantile state.

The Ringmaster agreed, and the contract was signed.

So Reira holds a small paper with notes on it-the young, pale seven year old with a striped shirt long enough to almost be a dress, her shorts peeking out from past the hem, with long hair practically floating behind her. For the most part, she seems rather oblivious to anything most her age would deem interesting about the carnival-occasionally however, she does ask about two things-

First, the Menagerie.

And second, where thieves are meant to meet their 'boss'.]

[Daily Work, With Cats]

[There was, as it seemed, one single task outside standard animal care that needed to be done as part of her First Day of Work. While the role of animal keeper was technically under the foreman, Ginko was the one she had spoken to and more or less received her 'chores' from. At this point? Those chores were finding the last stragglers that had escaped their 'pens'.

The dangerous ones apparently were all in-what was missing now was mostly, in his words, 'The cats'. Snake Cat, Pea Cat, cat cat cat cat...she wasn't entirely sure she understood, but she knew what cats looked like, and that seemed about all she needed before setting off.

Which is why as she goes about the Carnival, various others can find her climbing structures or crawling under attractions (regardless of any signs), or even outright chasing after something with a feline face and some other extra additions giving it away as either Snat, Peacat, or...something.]

Mew~

...Mnh... ...you're hungry.. ..?

Mreeew~

[She's getting a little better at figuring these guys out at least. Though, there is certainly a big surprise for Ginko when she comes back holding a purring white, slightly glowing feline...]

[Summer City Summer People]

[Technically speaking, she was assigned a trailer to stay in while at the Carnival. But as much as she doesn't have hard feelings toward the Ringmaster for why she's here, and as much as she's already doing some work in things, it's somehow just...Nicer to stay out here right now. Everyone in the city feels 'nice', Reira finds. The way they act, the way they live radiates a sensation of peace and even clarity, the likes of which she hasn't experienced in...ever, she's pretty sure.

The faerie are more than accommodating, and apparently even charmed-if only because she's more than willing to simply sit there and watch as various fae dance around or listen to music, whilst a few play around with the girl's hair.

Right now it seems to be having a number of flowers and ribbons woven up into them.]

[[OOC: Reira has an Empathic ability that renders her sensitive to extreme emotions; details are here, but let me know if you'd rather her not pick up on certain emotions in particular!]]

Waking up (wake me up inside)

[hippocarnival]

Reira!

[Yuya's voice carries first when he spots Reira, running to her. Or, more accurately, jogging with the occasional stumble. He was far more mobile than before, but not enough to be 100% (more doea it help he refused to stay in bed).

He's so relieved to see her, assuming nothing more than that she happened to find her way into the carnival as anyone would--and she's all right.]

Closed to Lambert (brief CW for emeto? in the starter?)

[periphrasing]

As it turns out, Peridot's decision to take up loneliness farming as a coping mechanism was practically prophetic, because between the time she'd made that decision and now, a lot of her friends from home have left. Pearl and Lars are both gone, as is Steven's father (which also means she's down an employee as well, blast it all). But worst thing of all? Amethyst is gone, too. Portland, the alternate lives... it had all been too much for them.

They may have left that world, but somehow it's still taking things from her, Peridot reflects sullenly.

A new project is exactly what she needs to chase the doldrums away; Peridot is a gem of action, laying around feeling sorry for herself isn't really in her repertoire. She has, at least, mostly recovered from the soul wound she took back in Portland by this point. Not entirely recovered, mind, just. Mostly. Sometimes the waves of nausea and exhaustion still hit her in small form, but generally it's nothing she can't muscle through, meaning there's nothing stopping her from getting cracking on this latest endeavor.

The patch of land by the lake that she picked out is already, thanks to the machine she has cobbled together out of various carnival junk. Its essentially a makeshift rototiller, one that she's already used to churn up multiple rows of loamy soil. She's taking a break now, sitting cross-legged on the ground and sifting through packets of different kinds of seeds with a vaguely bored expression. Her energy levels still aren't back up to their typical "energizer bunny on speed" rating, which means she has to do things stupid organics do like... Rest. EUGH.

Pumpkin is with her, too. "Helping". Which in this particular case means, "eating weird things off of the ground and then barfing them back up at Peridot's feet covered in pumpkin residue and seeds." This time, she has brought Peridot a pinecone. At the familiar retching and splattering sound, the engineer looks up briefly from her sorting to glance at it with slightly raised brows.

"Uh. Wow. Thanks, Pumpkin," she says, trying to sound genuine and... failing. Not that Pumpkin can tell the difference. She just yaps happily and wags her weird vine tail.

[whattaprick]

The lakeshore's a popular place to hang out at, these days -- probably because there's something so damn calming about the water. Lambert wonders if the Ringmaster actually knew what she was doing putting one in the first place, but it's not like he can ask her right now.

He'd noticed Peridot hard at work further down the lakeshore, but hasn't seen fit to interrupt. Now that she's taking a break, though? After a few minutes, Lambert makes his way over, just in time to see the sentient gourd upchuck all over the ground.

"That's Pumpkin?" Is the first thing out of his mouth, from where he's standing at the end of the plowed-up earth. He still looks like he could sleep for a week, but he's not so tired he can't manage a little friendly shitgiving.

Shiro Fujimoto | OTA (newbie)

[lionson]

[Day 139]

[This is what he gets for not listening to his common sense.

He really didn't want to be stuck here, especially not with so much going on at home that he really needed to deal with first. But he did technically take on a debt, and now he has to pay for it. Which really sucks, because he left behind a LOT of stuff to do. And even if his kids can take care of themselves, he'll still worry at least a little bit, what with being a dad and all.

Well, there's not much sense in worrying too much. What's done is done, and he'll spend his time worrying more about the son he can actually keep an eye on here.

In the meantime, he's busy looking grumpy as he makes his way around the circus, trying to find one location in particular. Because if he's going to be working here, then he might as well meet his boss.]

Oi, is there a hospital tent or something here? Because I sure as hell can't seem to find it.

[Introducing: Shiro Fujimoto, your new medic. This guy here will be patching you up whenever you get hurt.]

[diamondsare]

[At least the other son is far less likely to get into constant trouble.

And by the look of this place, the one here likely has plenty of trouble to get into in comparison.. maybe being here won't be that bad, if one can get past all the unusual people calling it home.

Like the rather tall blue-skinned and white-haired woman currently working on carrying an equally large armload of cloth towards the back of the carnival. Some of it's rather ...difficult to look at, and some of it shimmers and shifts like an aurora. Some is plain cotton. She pauses when addressed, adjusting her hold on all the various items.]

There is, yes. If you'll follow me, I-

[Nothing in Shiro's voice had been familiar. But as she turns to actually look at the man who'd spoken, she pauses mid sentence, expression gone suddenly blank.

Shiro.

.. No. Not ... almost. Almost but not quite, she knew him like she knew her own hands and this was not--

Whatever had stopped her (and boy didn't that look like shocked recognition, and then a swift sneaking of sadness?), Blue recovers quickly, expression schooled into neutral pleasantness.]

... I'll show you where to find it.

Lambert | Day 145 onward!

[whattaprick]

1. finding focus
The trouble with being in recovery is that it takes time to actually, well, recover. To Lambert’s eternal frustration, despite the amount of effort that’s gone towards healing his injuries, there’s a bone-deep exhaustion he can’t shake. What he should really be doing is sleeping for years, but like fuck he’s spending that much time on his back. Instead, he’s taken to meditating when he can, wherever he can.

So it is that in random places around the Carnival — by the lakeshore, in the training grounds — and anywhere there’s a quiet spot in the Summerlands free of people? One might occasionally come across the Nightrider kneeling, sitting on his own folded legs with his lands loosely curled on his thighs and eyes shut. Not unaware of his surroundings, but definitely checked out.

2. little miracles
Later in the week, once Lambert’s actually up to exploring the city, he finds himself less eager to interact with the Summer Fae … and somehow, stuck wandering through the gardens instead. It won't be uncommon for someone to stumble on him in one of them, while he finds a bench to catch his breath.

Some are designed to be a glut for the senses, with food growing on trees and fountains that flow with drinks instead of water. Others are more obviously for contemplation and self-reflection, with a tableau of silently dancing statues, or a steady rain of petals falling down. There are also those that are clearly someone’s idea of a joke, with still ponds that reflects a younger version of himself one minute, and a grey-haired, wrinkled visage the next, and as the opposite sex after that.

At least one garden, filled with heavily nodding heads of white chrysanthemums, seems to have something in the air that compels those who enter it to speak the truth, or at least be a little looser of tongue. To Lambert’s own surprise, he doesn’t have much trouble pushing back against the impulse, though he can feel the weight of it at the back of his mind.

3. wildcard
Lambert can still be found elsewhere, lingering around the Carnival or blowing things up for fun. He isn’t going out of his way to avoid the other Carnival workers and for most of the time he’s quite slow-moving, so he shouldn’t be too hard to catch if someone needs to bend his ear for something.

CARDS GONE WILD

[osteothropy]

It's not too long after Lambert starts revitalizing Sans's old laboratory trailer that Sans discovers that fact and gets curious. It had been a few months (not counting the one they all disappeared for) since he did much work in there... coming back to the carnival has managed to reignite a bit of that enthusiasm, as it turns out.

With any luck, he'll manage to barge in there while Lambert is working. Sans seems like one of the few people who isn't extremely troubled by everything that just happened - which could be his usual brand of avoiding the subject, not that it's possible to tell.

"Ah," he says, looking at the tarp over his work area. He lifts it up to look beneath. "My noodle boxes are gone. Too bad. I was saving those for later."

[sunflowerfields]

Hinawa awakens to the feeling of something tickling her cheek. She expects to see one of the boys with a feather when she opens her eyes, but instead she's only greeted by an endless blue sky and tall grass. She sits up, wondering how she got outside, and looks around slightly dazed until she sees the carnival set up in the distance.

She's almost worked the stiffness out of her limbs by the time she reaches the grounds. It's so odd- she's not usually one to have trouble waking up in the morning, but she feels like she's been asleep for an especially long time. Something strange had to have happened for her to leave her bed and end up outside!

And something has happened, if the atmosphere is any indication. Everyone seems tense and drained and no one wants to tell her what's going on.

Fortunately, Hinawa knows how to get people to open up. Sometimes all it takes is a little incentive. Which is why you can find her carrying tea and cookies around all day, offering them with a smile.

"You look a little tired, how about a pick me up?"

[stillwinningthehardway]

Scout, sitting on a bench staring out into sunny nothing, wipes hastily at her eyes. Her face is that special, obvious blank that means she's hiding emotion, but she nods and attempts to rally, turning towards the older woman. Loss is loss and she's been handling hers for years now. Having it taken away for a little while had just meant that its return was crushing. But it's not a new loss, and she can't just wallow in it.

"Oh... hi, Hinawa." She makes herself smile. "You're doing fine, I see."

STEVEN UNIVERSE ⋆ OPEN DAY 145+

[starseedling]

► HOME AND BACK
Like most of his family, Steven decided to go home. Just for a while, he thought – the memories of Portland, while faded, still have too much of a presence in his mind. It all feels too recent. It seems like going home to experience more of his real life, even if he won’t remember this place while he’s there, will be the refresher he needs.

Even if things are hard there, they aren’t quite like this. He knows that something bad could happen while he’s at home, but he’s not anticipating that it will be any time particularly soon. It’s been a while since something terrible happened in Beach City, and post this amnesiac adventure in Portland, he’s all but forgotten Peridot’s warning about him attending a trial on Homeworld.

So, he goes. On this end, he’s only gone twenty five hours before he’s back again. He stumbles out of the trees, looking shocked as the memories of three lives fill him – he remembers this place. It’s the carnival, and he’s meant this whole time to come back.

Yet... had this been a good time? So much just happened, and he didn’t even get to see his family again! Are they okay? Is Lars okay? What should he do?

He looks back into the trees, and sees no immediate way back.

► PAINT IT BLACK (lol)
He’s the only one that returns. His dad, Amethyst, Pearl, Lars... all of them are gone, and they haven’t come back yet. He doesn’t know when they’ll come back. He’s been told that it could be days, or it could be months.

The stress of returning from his ordeal at home straight into this one turns out to be more than he ever expected. The memories of Portland seem more mocking now than they did before - like the Rose Queen was some kind of sick parody of his painful feelings about his mom. His real mom was dead long before she ever could have imprisoned him, but in her own way... it feels like her legacy has trapped him just as hopelessly. Other people would do the imprisoning for her, apparently.

Despite the company of Lion, Bud, and Lil, the trailer feels so hopelessly empty when he returns to it, and he dreads any attempt at sleeping by himself. The memories of being alone in Portland are too fresh, and he’d been so happy just to have his dad there to hold him, to assure him that things were okay. He ends up crying late into the night as Lion licks his hair and Lil stands guard at the door, waiting for his trainer’s return.

These feelings of anger and sadness are once again feeling like more than he can handle, but the people he would have turned to about them are far away from him now. What can he do?

As is Steven’s way, the decision he makes regarding this is impulsive and somewhat melodramatic. He was supposed to face his emotions, right? That was what Garnet had said! And if that’s the case...

After a long morning spent in the dressing rooms of the Big Top, trying on a whole bunch of different flavours of dark clothing and dark make up, Steven will emerge into the carnival reborn. Meaning, well... he’s dressed all in black and wearing too much glitter, because as a fourteen year old trapped in his adolescence, he doesn’t actually have a particularly good idea of what being ‘goth’ even means. Then he’s just going to march back out into the carnival, frowning, as if he hasn’t totally just turned his wardrobe on its head without explanation.

It’s time to convince everybody that he’s totally dark now and completely at peace with his inner grief. Too bad that he’s actually not, and also this is stupid.

GIVE ME THE TINY DARK ROASTED BEAN

[soft_focus]

Reira, having been at the carnival for a whopping few hours or so-maybe a day, at most-doesn't know much of anyone in this place. She knows a few of course, either by way of a familiar home or by way of her 'job', but that's about it.

And somehow, despite all the colours of her world, she has never seen so much glitter in her life.

"W...woaaaaaahh...."

She is staring, that much is certain, and the tiny little girl cannot for the life of her keep her thoughts to herself, regardless of what she 'feels' around the other. "You're all shiny..."

And flowery, but one thing at a time.