⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Winter Breaks: Day 6 - Day 25
Where: THE MOON
What: The carnival journeys to one of its moons to celebrate the Lunar Solstice. More information here.
Warnings: Winter fun.

MOON WALKING↴ The journey to the moon only takes a blink of an eye, but it leaves the carnival far away beneath you. The second moon can be seen on the peripheral, massive compared to its usual view. At least when the holidays start out, there will be no notable wildlife on the moon, though this is something you can talk to the Ringmaster about if you think it needs a change. It sounds like this is the first time she's used it in quite a while - it probably needs some dusting off! Claim your cabins, and proceed to... well, do whatever you want! There is no rush and little obligation, besides to enjoy yourself. For real, this time. She promises there will be no vampires. Or, at least, none that don't already work for the carnival. ► CABINS: Living arrangements are character choice for this event, and there are a variety of cabins of various sizes, mostly built to house 2-6 people, though you can fit more in if you squish. They are all made of wood and of a rustic design - no fancy modern furniture, here! Each building is housed with a fireplace and the needed amenities. You can pick up materials to cook with the private kitchens if you like. Theoretically, you could spend the whole holiday sequestered away, watching the snow fall. Some of them also have outdoor hot tubs available! ► ACTIVITIES: Activities are mostly going to be character driven, though there will be some large group games like bingo and maybe a poker tournament happening at some point in one of the festival halls. Otherwise, there is a lot to offer: skiing, snowboarding, hiking, ice sculpting, snowball fights - it goes on! If you'd like to run a winter activity, just let the mods know, and we will get the word out there for you. ► FEASTING: Every day isn't a full-out feast because that would get a bit unhealthy, but there will be a number of specific feast events over the holidays where everyone is encouraged to let out their inner hedonist and stuff themselves. There will be one big feast per week, with smaller but also delicious meals offered in between. The feast dates will be B12, B18, and B24. There's also plenty of alcohol available for anyone who wants it. ► SHOPPING: As mentioned in the planning post, there is a massive market being run by the World Walker Caravan! The Ringmaster has given everyone 1250 credits to spend on items, but there is a caveat - must spend at least 500 of those credits on gifts for other people. And it better be a good one, if you only buy one! (She will ask that you do not buy her presents, however. She appreciates the sentiment, but it seems sort of silly buying her things with her own money! If you'd like to gift her, please have it be something more personal or handmade, but you are not obligated to get her anything at all.) ► TREATMENTS: The beginning of the holidays will also be about the time that the emergency Medical Team will have finalized their treatments for the Prince's poisoning. Watch out for further information on that - and make sure to get treated if you are suffering from petrification or poison induced illness! The holidays will be a lot more fun that way.

Comments

[mylastchance]

Lauren reaches out to catch Susan's hand, stopping him from leaving. He bends down, crouching so that he and Susan are closer together. It's not to patronize him or anything like that. He's simply talking quietly, and he wants to be sure Susan can hear him.

"You don't have to explain it. What do you want to do about it?"

[sarcaskick]

Well thank the gods for that, because you would have been sorely disappointed if you expected anything from me.

[ He shrugs, lifting up the booty shorts again, swiping his hand over the message - EAT ME. Nice. ]

[betheman]

.........Please do not. [Ugh.] As amusing as you, and numerous others find it, it is a very important manner of speech from home, [he insists, practically pouting.] ......However mistranslated it is, [he adds, visibly doing his best not to let that bit get to him.]

...That aside..! [He coughs...and raises a few vines himself. His are ~Red and Brown~.] It would appear that we have something in common, beyond blossoms..!! It is wonderful to see another with similar abilities, I must say..!

[wild_magic]

It's not patronizing, and he normally wouldn't think anything of it, but right now he's feeling a bit uncertain and so he worries at his lip with one little fang again as he steadfastly doesn't look at his brother.

"I don't know." Or more accurately, he does know, but at the same time it's confusing and he doesn't think Lauren will like it if he says he wants to take it home.

[betheman]

In his mind, no doubt....he is handicapping himself as he did me. ....Zangetsu was not in his own mind, Yuuya-it is that matter for which I, the man Gongenzaka, was apologized to for. If anything, he was able to restrain himself quite well..! [He adds, huffing.]

....But Zangetsu is a sword-no doubt, a weapon for death, when released into such a state.... [Well. Regardless.]

...He apologized to me in person-and took his arm off before my own eyes, while making his declaration. I, the man Gongenzaka, shall not disrespect him for that.

[disjunct]

Yeah, I don't live in the parallel universe where I expect the guy who never bores me to bore me with a gift. As if that's what I find interesting.

[ There's two last things in the box-- the 'ALL MONSTERS ARE HUMAN' Irony(tm) shirt and ... a video game. No console though, she figures if he thinks it looks fun enough, he'll pick one up for himself. The infamous hardcore version of Mario Party, Luigi Mourning amps up the worst/best aspects of knockoff Mario Party. Star swaps are more frequent, the games more competitive, a decisive winner can lose it all in the last round. Sold as "The First Game Made You Hate Your Friends, This One Might Put One of You In Jail". ]

[soft_focus]

"....." She chooses not to...address that. There's lots of dead mice in the Carnival, probably. Probably? She looks to Flowey. "Magic..?" Hohh. Well. "...Is that why you can do magic the way you do?"

This conversation may or may not be worth Foster's interest, now.

[soft_focus]

We could go to where the food is served, and get one now?

[osteothropy]

Sans puts a hand to his face, bemused. The markings changed? Huh. He's had those for a while now, and they haven't changed before... on the other hand, he's pretty sure he's seen other people's shift around before.

"Dunno," he says, shrugging a shoulder. "Probably not too weird, though."

He starts trying to pull himself out of the water to get a better look at himself. It's too murky to see much of his reflection - as misbehaved as it can be - and he wants to know what the status of his ass and legs are. As he half stumbles over the ledge of the hot tub, that quickly becomes apparent.

At some point, the tentacle tail has melted away, leaving only bones beneath it. Back to normal, apparently, except for the fact that there is still a coating of stone layering one side of the tail. Except, that stone doesn't feel unnatural and stiff like the other stuff had. And... the scorpion tail is still there.

"Ehn, this again," he says, fishing the stinger out of the water as he tried to avoid falling face first into the snow. He's still a little bit intoxicated, it would see.

[mylastchance]

Lauren breathes through his nose, before looking at the dragon again.

"Do you want to bring it home?"

[osteothropy]

"Thanks," he says, because what else do you say, really? Syrlya is still more of a coworker than a friend at this point, so he isn't going to open up about any personal angst right off the bat. Still, though... there's something he should probably say.

"Good work with that Rose thing, by the way. The RM told me what you got up to. That's a pretty big deal." It's encouraging to know they have him as an asset, at the very least.

[wild_magic]

He's a little surprised by Lauren's question, as that's exactly what he wants, and it takes him a long moment before he nods.

"I wanna take care of it. And keep it safe..."

[mylastchance]

It was a wild guess, but given the situation if that hadn't been the right answer he really isn't sure what guess number two would have been. He watches his brother think it over, before nodding, and he smiles weakly, glad that Susan has come to some sort of a conclusion in his mind. He, squeezes Susan's shoulder with his hand before he stands, asking the shopkeeper if they can take the dragon home. It's only a few minutes later that they're being handed a carrier with the dracopixy inside.

[sarcaskick]

[ He pulls out the t-shirt first, reading the text before shooting her a look-- ]

Oooh, deep.

[ -- and then going on to the last item, which is... well, he knows what a video game looks like, but he has no idea what this actually is. He spends a moment reading the flavor text on the box ("The First Game To Make You Hate Your Friends"), arching an eyebrow as he looks at the gift-giver. ]

You know, if I read into this too much I'd say you're almost calling us friends. Should we make matching bracelets and skip through the meadow?

[osteothropy]

As much as Tyki is willing to listen, Sans isn't sure what to say. He falls into what he feels is a relatively comfortable silence for a few moments, before figuring out what he's going to say.

"You're not the only one feelin' a bit lost, I guess," he says, shrugging a should. "Can't claim to know what to make of you, either."

[dressedtothe]

Yes, he misses her. He misses her so badly it's almost as if he has a gaping hole in his Black Box. It's hard to remember what it had been like in the days before he met her; memories of her filled his world with a bright light.

"...Yeah. She did. Does."

And with that admission, the gates are opened, words and emotions pouring out before he can stop them.

"I don't understand why it was necessary. Why create an android whose role is to kill those she cares about? And then make her feel pain and suffering from doing so?" What secret could possibly be worth all that pain? "It hurt her so much to keep killing me. She was so alone... and I didn't even know."

1/2

[disjunct]

Don't be mistaken, I want to destroy you with that game. I want to cultivate a despair you've never known as I rip the stars out of your hands like I'm taking them from the fucking sky.

[disjunct]

[ Laughing but no, she's not joking. ]

I just thought it'd be inspiration for you to spend your credits on a console. I mean, you've never had one, have you? No vacation or anything. Have a shopping spree. Someone was selling a beast cloak in there that would make you look like Van Helsing bait. Have fun!

[wild_magic]

Susan doesn't watch the transaction at all, still feeling a bit anxious and embarrassed. But once Lauren is back with the little dragon in its little carrier, he very carefully takes it from his brother, carrying it very cautiously and silently on the way to their cabin, all thoughts of other shopping forgotten for the moment. Right now it seems he's a bit lost in his head.

[pipers_son]

Does he feel sick?

Joker raises his eyes up to blink at Ginko a few times, as if his eyelids struggle to stay upright. Then, with his arm still crossed along the rim of the tub, he presses his face down against it and just... quietly starts to laugh. It's not a humorous one, despite the quantity.

[dontpokethat]

That is not even slightly an answer. Ginko lets out a slow breath and leans down to get a look at him, then presses the back of one hand against Joker's forehead.

"Let me rephrase that. Do you feel dizzy, or more nauseous than you did before?"

[kingsroads]

[ Strange takes the bottle...but frowns for a moment. ]

Does the vest have puffy sleeves or am I wearing puffy sleeves and the vest?

[prazerbutterfly]

On the other hand he's really not expecting him to talk or not talk. When silence erupts he reaches into his coat and pulls out a bottle of hard apple cider. Even with the poison he wasn't going to deny himself something that both tasted good and made him feel more numb than the snow.

"I guess we'll just have to find out about each other the natural way," he responds casually with a long drink before he just offers it to Sans as if he knows him personally, "I heard stories about 'The Warden' when I first got here. Told to be on my best behavior."

[kingsroads]

[ There's a pause while it looks like Strange is intently staring at nothing. ]

I'm not sensing any magic, [ he has to admit, ] though that does not mean nothing's happening in the first place.

[ What to do from here? Strange isn't exactly used to people not being able to get magic as easily as he does. And he's certainly not going to give up on Yuya. He just needs to think of a different way to go about this. ]

Tell me. When you cast your warding spell, what does it feel like?

[osteothropy]

"Yup," he says, casually taking the cider and just mysteriously pouring it through his teeth. "I'm a hard ass." He raps his knuckles against his hip bone, making a clacking sound. "Literally. No meat on there at all."