⇨ 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

[disjunct]

[ Junko is slung over the side of the hot tub, arms and head, drifting back into consciousness. Of course there's a hangover of a thousand hells, but Junko loves pain more than anything, so it... it hardly makes a difference...

No, they didn't do it. She'd be able to tell. But somehow, someway, their empty heads at least managed to get their clothes off sometime during the night.

...

Which means they're wet and freezing around the side of the tub.

Checking to make sure Mercury doesn't drown, she scoots over to him and gives him a firm slap. ]

Don't go dying on me! Wake uuuup!

[sarcaskick]

[ He doesn't even open his eyes - he's too uncomfortable for him to even think about adding the pain that light will surely bring to his eyes, so for all intents and purposes he still looks asleep even once he wakes up. He hears Junkp waking up, stirring about, but remains perfectly still in the hopes that she'll leave him alone.

One slap in the face and entirely too much noise later, he's wasting no time in grabbing her by the back of the head to shove her back under the water and away from him. ]

Shut. Up.

[disjunct]

[ She squirms away from him and tosses her hair back-- she remembers-- they were gonna, and she was ripping her clothes off, and nothing. ]

Mercury.

[ Holy shit. ]

Mercury, did you sharpie all over me in the middle of the night?

[ She stands up-- again, shame is for people who aren't Junko-- And look who's a tiger. ]

[sarcaskick]

[ He opens one eye slowly at the question - then the other, at the sight of her completely undressed, which he can now be certain to actually remember thanks to sobriety! ]

Oh my god, did we get you inked up while we were smashed?

[disjunct]

It feels like more than a tattoo, and a soak overnight in a hot tub would have made it fade-- Ah!

[ she zooms over to him and keeps some distance lest he dunk her again ]

Holy shit, your eyes! They've changed c-- not color, they've changed everything!

[ She scrambles for her compact in the pocket of her skirt, and pops it open to show him. ]

[sarcaskick]

[ He rears his head back a bit at her sudden energy - which he doesn't share, blinking blearily as she finds her compact to show him what she's so worked up aboWHAT THE FUCK.

There's nothing like a little body horror to snap someone out of their hangover, the nausea from overindulgence overwhelmed by the nausea of the realization that those are his eyes that have suddenly warped into something else. White sclera now black as night, pupils burning red, the only thing unchanged is the deep steel of his irises.

He reaches a hand out to grab the compact for himself, holding it closer to get a better look. ]

So that's... that's something.

[ Was this in the contract? He does not remember this in the contract. ]

Is this permanent?

[disjunct]

Everyone gets changes... little things that make them a part of this world. Physical changes that usually reflect the person inside. A sign that you're growing more magical.

[ She sinks back into the hot tub to lift a leg. The stripes blur into coal-black down to her feet, and her hands look like they're covered in thick, dark ash, her red nails standing out. ]

Maybe we did something to trigger it?

[ somewhere in Junko's subconscious, the truth is there-- they talked about all the fucked up ways they did murder and what if they fucked on that balcony, would the castle-golem feel weird about that, a game of truth or dare that never got sexy, and a myriad of other things before they puked up the vodka over the side and passed out. ]

[sarcaskick]

I guess so.

[ He leans back slowly against the edge of the hot tub, tossing her compact somewhere in the general direction of her clothes as he watches her show off her changes. Not that he needed the excuse to look at her legs, shameless as he is, but it's a different kind of stare this time. Something scrutinizing. ]

You know, for all you build up my aura and stuff as magic, it's not. Magic is something on a whole other level. Something I never thought I'd get to be part of.

[ One... two... three... there's the grin, slowly creeping back into its home on his lips. ]

Could be interesting.

[disjunct]

I think so too.

[ Junko lets her pigtails soak in the water before she draws herself out, admiring the aesthetic-- black stripes on her pale skin, leaving her back bare and her torso unstriped. It was just down her sides and making an elegant shape around her neck. ]

I'm always down for an upgrade. Who knows? Maybe they'll make us stronger, too.

[sarcaskick]

And here I'm used to getting stronger the old-fashioned way.

[ He makes no attempt to look away from her, and if anything the new burning red of his pupils makes it clear as day where his eyes are focused. ]

So if these changes reflect the person inside, what do those stripes say about you?

[disjunct]

Despair.

Obviously. Wrapping around my body like it's draining out of me. That's where I begin and end.

[ She glances back over to him with a raw grin. ]

Let me guess. Yours represent targeting. Observing everything around you, picking out the weak and strong, and that cute little glow is to let your targets know you have a sniper's light trained on them with no escape.

Can you see things a little more powerfully?

[sarcaskick]

It's hard to say. A hangover is probably not the best time to test my vision.

[ He lifts his hands, clasping them behind his head, the poster boy of smuggery. ]

Buuuut I think there's something you missed. The white turned to black, the black turned to red, but the iris - the part people usually care about - didn't change at all. Still as gray as ever. Pretty much, no matter what you try to change about me, I'm always going to be me at the end of the day.

[disjunct]

Hmhmhm...! I agree. For instance, to be really fitting my motif, The space between my stripes should be stark white. But it's just black-- there's always two sides of the same coin, but some people are just one side of it.

[ She hoists herself out of the bathtub and sits on the edge. It's horridly, awfully cold, but Junko... likes to suffer. Of course. ]

I think this cabin isn't taken... or we'd have been dumped in the snow. Wanna claim it? I mean, if we are vacationing on the moon...

[sarcaskick]

I still can't believe that's a sentence that can be said in all seriousness. "Vacationing on the moon". It's absurd.

[ Says the young man with robot legs sucked into an interdimensional circus where he's slowly being turned into a magical being. ]

Besides, who would actually be able to throw us out?

[disjunct]

Right? If anything, we'd make them abandon ship.

[ She steps out of the hot tub to go slide the sliding-glass door open and peer inside. Empty as ever. Desk space, a fireplace, and two beds. Has a second little ladder leading up to a third.

A top bunk. ]

Let me guess. Too cold to get out on your own?

[sarcaskick]

I'm just so shy, is all! To expose myself in the presence of such an innocent little creature? Why, the indecency of it all!

[ ... He says, standing up almost immediately after to climb on out (a little woozy, because jesus christ that vodka is not done fucking with him yet). Almost immediately a shiver runs through him, goosebumps rising along his skin, and he's searching for a towel right away. ]

Unless that was supposed to be some kind of invitation to "warm me up", or whatever.

[disjunct]

Nah, just wondering if you needed a towel.

[ She tosses one over her shoulder, and wraps one around herself. ]

Though of course, I'm sure you think I drink tall glasses of vodka for all the boys instead of slowly poisoning them with it.

[sarcaskick]

[ He uses it to wipe off most of the water from his chest and arms, not even bothering with his hair as he wraps the towel around his waist. ]

To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't puke then and there. I don't say this often, so don't get used to it, but I'm actually impressed.

[disjunct]

Never seen a guy keep up with me either...

[ She hums, seeing that their bags have been brought in for them by the Caravans. As much shit as they give each other, why is it turning out that they're rooming together again?

Huh. ]

Though you didn't drink half as much as I did. I guess you got close enough.

[sarcaskick]

I was trying to have a night to remember, not a night to forget.

[ ... Which didn't turn out as planned at all, apparently. ]

Maybe you just have to get better at picking the right "nevers" next time.

[disjunct]

Never have I ever remembered the first time I stripped in front of Mercury.

[ Clinging each of her arms, full sarcastic pout on display. ]

[sarcaskick]

Whatever will we tell the kids when they ask how mommy and daddy fell in love?

[ matching pout for pout here ]

[disjunct]

You're the good liar, I'm sure you can think of something.

[ It's still as sarcastic, but feels like it has a double meaning. ]

[sarcaskick]

"Well y'see, son, I always did have a thing for zebras!"

[ mercury you live in a world where people actually have animal stripes that's fucked up ]

[disjunct]

"Junko Jr., maybe someday you'll meet the killer cyborg with Terminator eyes of your dreams!"