lostcarnival | ⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

Entry tags:

⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"If you want?" Cole's still a bit confused about all of this but alright, there's nothing wrong with touching. And if Julien does touch him then it seems Cole is cold. But it's hard to tell whether this is an effect of Cole's skin being out in the cold weather or if Cole himself is cold.

As for the question about the hat...Cole frowns for a moment, still rubbing the outside of his ears. "Can I have a different hat with holes in it instead? This one is from home."

And honestly, Cole thinks it might be the only object from home he even has. After all, he first arrived at the Prince's ball, after being shoved into fancy dress (something that's certainly different from the slapped-together brown outfit he's currently wearing.)

All right then! Julien extends his big head on his big neck and goes under the brim of the hat so he can press his operculum - that heart-shaped thing above his beak, equivalent to the tip of a human's nose - against the side of Cole's neck, keeping his head tilted so that this doesn't involve impaling him with his beak. His operculum is covered in velvety fuzz, but it's a thinner covering than anywhere else on him. Even his eyelids are keratinized. Bird bodies just aren't built for fine touch discernment and this is the best this particular one has got.

It's enough for this purpose all right. Julien pulls his head back in dismay. "Jeez, you're freezing! Yeah, you can have another hat. You can have a whole 'nother set of outfits. Come back with me to the Carnival, come pick some things out."

Alright. Bird on his neck. This is a thing that's happening. Cole's just kind of rolling with this, standing still as Julien shoves his head against Cole's neck like this isn't slightly weird.

But okay! He's freezing! That's good to know. Cole doesn't really seem too bothered by it but Julien is certainly bothered by it, so time for Cole to pick up a new winter wardrobe.

"You'll have to show me where the clothes are kept," Cole explains, with a small frown. Because he certainly doesn't know.

Try having to poke people with your face to be able to feel them, Cole. Julien didn't feel like having his other body hustle all the way over here just to see if the spirit was cold to the touch.

He's definitely perked up as he starts walking, leaving dinosaur tracks in the snow.

"Oh, absolutely! Everyone here's entitled to several changes of clothes, you know, just by being here. I love clothing, I kinda had to let that go when the, you know, the bird thing happened." Outfits just do not work with being a bird. More than an hour or two in even the loosest, most carefully tailored and designed article of clothing starts to get unpleasant. "But hey, now I can wear things again! Sometimes, good things happen."

Cole shuffles through the snow slightly, getting his shoes and the edges of his trousers completely soaked with the snow. If it bothers him, he doesn't say. Instead, he focuses his attention on Julien and on the conversation they're having.

"Because there's two of you or because there's bird clothes?" Cole got kidnapped by one fae, shoved into a contract by another, and is rooming with a slightly murdery stab spirit. Bird clothes are 100% something that he's accepting as a thing that can happen (and if not, they should happen. Surely Julien could still wear a scarf or a hat.)

"Definitely two of me!" It's time to put a hole in Cole's thought. "Bird clothes are just... they're a mistake. You're cold all the time, 'cause you can't fluff out your feathers, and actually they're held down close to your body like you'd do if you're scared. I tried them and tried them and it just feels bad."

He wavers his head back and forth. "Accessories can be okay, or like a cloak in a light material. They come right off though if you fly, and I'd choose flying over fashion." Julien loves to fly, which is a good thing considering.

"What if you use a drawstring? Like a cloak! It can move a little."

This is interesting. This is something new! Cole's never really given any thought to the logistics of bird clothes before, but now that he has, now that he's doing so, he wants to learn more. After all, Julien isn't an ordinary bird. He can't help him like he helps the ordinary birds, even Cole knows that might be a little bit rude.

"Mmm, sometimes. Really the best thing I ever tried was basically sort of an apron with a bunch of drawstrings! The problem was I always needed someone's help to put it on or take it off or adjust it, and god, that was... I didn't like it." He had a couple of fingers remaining on each wing, but they were wings, not arms, and even though he'd learned to use his beak like a hand, it was not really a hand. "That's not so much of an issue now, of course, but I kinda like just keeping it separate now, most of the time."

He shakes off when he goes through the portal, sending flecks of melting snow every which way, his feathers fluffing out and then lying back, closer to his skin since there's no need to trap air to stay warm. "Do you feel temperature at all, Cole?"

Cole nods, very intently. Alright, it might be a problem for Julien to put things on and take things off. However, there's two of him, so the second one can get something nice—mmm, but maybe he should get the other half as well. Is it rude to prioritize halfs?

Through all this thinking, he's just listening very intently about bird clothes until oh, wait, they're back at the carnival. He steps out of the way as Julien shakes before stepping back to his side.

At the question, Cole shakes his head. "I don't think I do. I know what it is, though." Other people can feel hot or cold. Other people need scarves occasionally. Cole's not so sure if he is that way or not.

"Well, I think you give off heat like most people do. It might not bother you but your skin looks like it's cold. If we dress you up a little bit, that'll hold the heat in, and then if you have to touch someone they won't jump and yell that you're like ice." Julien's big tail trembles behind him, remembering the pleasures and terrors of cold feet in bed. They probably don't apply to Cole, but Cole likely does have to touch people now and then, even if he's something that can't actually get frostbite or hypothermia.

"Oh, also, if you have warm outer clothing and you come across someone who is, definitely, cold, then you can take something off and give it to them! Only outer garments, though. Coat, jacket, or scarf." He has his suspicions on how much this spirit guy understands. "I've set up a little stockpile in the wardrobe tent."

It'll hold the heat in, it won't make people worry about him, and, most importantly of all, it would make Julien happy. That's the thing that matters most in Cole's mind because it's what he can do in the here and now.

So he simply nods, following Julien to the wardrobe tent. And oh, good, there's clothes there? He'll definitely need to remember that place and where it is.

"If I have to borrow something else, can I borrow it from there?" Cole has a loose understanding of clothes but he does know that some events have different outfits. A ball or an event, masks upon masks. It happened when he arrived here. It happened before. It might happen again. "I don't have things," he clarifies.

Julien pushes his way through the tent flap and looks around. It's kind of confined in here, to this body. There's the unpleasant awareness of how close the fabric walls are - if he reared up and started flapping he'd hit them, and flying is right out of the question. He doesn't like that. Julien hadn't been claustrophobic at all, not before getting thrown into the underbelly.

Maybe if he just keeps trying to ignore that and be in enclosed spaces when bad things don't happen, he'll get used to it.

"Well, I'd prefer if you kept things in your trailer. But yeah you can take things from the stores, the plain stuff folded up and put away. Not the stuff on hangers or on like a mannequin though, okay? A lot of those are for specific people, like the performers, and I don't want them going missing."

Cole nods, taking all of what Julien's saying and remembering it. Take things from the stores, don't take things on hangers, he can remember this, he's got it.

Keep things in his trailer though? He's never really had a trailer before, just as he's never really had things before.

"What should I have in there?" Cole honestly asks.

He breathes deeply and steadily, making himself note the scents in the still air, reminding himself that it's fine. This isn't a complex of fetid caves and tunnels soaked in toxic fae punishment. It's fine. He can leave whenever he wants, and he doesn't want to just yet.

"Some of it's usually things for you. You could have a couple of changes of clothes. I don't... you don't seem to make your clothing dirty in the same way as most people, so that's good, but it still might be nice to have a few options for things to wear." His sense of smell is a lot better than people usually expect, it's better since the hunt even, and Cole doesn't carry the odor of someone wearing the same outfit for a month. "Or not! Whatever makes you happy."

He tilts his head. "Otherwise it's good to have things you think people will need! If you work that far ahead, I mean. I don't know how you tick."

"I'm not a clock," Cole remarks, a bit confused by Julien's turn of phrase. Clocks tick. Cole doesn't. Still, he gets what the other man's talking about, even if Cole has to think around it a little bit. If he works that far ahead, it's good to have something so he can distribute it as needed.

"And what they need now they won't need later," he replies. After all, the carnival isn't snowy. The carnival isn't cold. Gloves and boots and hats can only go so far in a relatively nice climate. "But they might need something else. I won't know until then."

After all, Cole has zero clue what regular carnival life is like. He got thrown into this mess headfirst and accidentally.

"No, you're not a clock, but that's adorable." Julien feels the sudden urge to pat Cole on the head. Likely using his head, honestly, it'd require a lot less maneuvering and collateral damage risks than if he used a wing. His tail shivers amusement behind him. "Yeah, it's tricky trying to plan for the future! It's all so mysterious. It's good to at least try, but you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Anyway, I don't want to lose sight of why we're here. Hats! We need one or several hats to put holes in for your ears to stick through. What kind do you want?" And, because it's easier for people to choose if things are narrowed down, "Something mostly like your current hat, or different?"

It is a damn good thing that Julien didn't pat him on the head because while Cole doesn't understand a lot of things, he does understand the concept of 'being patronized at'. He can't help but frown a little at being called adorable (that's new) but then they've changed the subject back to hats and honestly, Cole would rather talk about hats than anything else. It's one of the few human idiosyncrasies he still has: he likes a good hat.

"Something large," he definitively states, "but simple. And with a big brim!"

So something mostly like his current hat whether Cole realizes it or not.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⇨ THE LUNAR SOLSTICE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject