LATE SUMMER FAIR (NSFW DESSERTS)

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: The slow transition from summer leads to a fair, complete with whacky treats and activities from other holidays and festivals from around the Multiverse.
Date(s): August 26-September 2
Warnings/Notes: None, please mark your subject headers with content.

Late Summer Fair

I play my part and you play your game

Welcome to Xistentia's first fair, F.A.T.E.S.' excuse to mingle. The setup appears overnight on the edge of town, a nonsensical mash of themes and places from the multiverse. Haunted house and circus tent, facepainting, ferris wheel and carousel, game stands that seem to self-operate, dozens of empty shopfronts, self-regenerating popcorn stands. Pretty soon, however, the people start to come, bringing their own goods and wares. The population of Xistentia is 333, which is more than enough people to fill a fair.

As far as fair food goes, there are penis-shaped waffles^[NSFW] in various flavors, two-sticked popsicles for sharing with a partner, turkey legs, fried dough, cookies as big as your head, fried fish, fried lizards, glutinous fruits, and lembas.

And let's not forget, there is an abundance of alcohol everywhere. Beer, wine, you name it.

But of course, let's not forget the games. Many of them are low-key and prizes vary from the ability to change your daemon's color to any other natural hue, to free food, horrible writing pens, and stuffed animals. Games vary from whack-a-mole to bobbing for apples. Everything is free to eat, drink, and play, barring some excuses for barter with some of your friendly neighborhood natives.

Some games, however, are less casual if not necessarily more costly. The contests of finesse and strength come with special prizes from F.A.T.E.S. and...

THE WINNERS ARE

Note that the "prizes" do not stack. Runner-up winners will not get multiple of the same type of prize, and those who experience a critical failure won't suffer particularly severe consequences. If your character receives a dream or a "unique item," you will receive a reply to your comment on the mod announcement with more information.

Contests of Finesse

DARTS
First Place	Vanyel Greyjoy	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Era, Alec, Nico, Vex, Rosie, Aymeric, Jace, Amanda, Zeke, Kavinsky, Janus	Emotional intuition boost
Yikes	Magnus, Barclay	Daemons totally lose filter and start saying the most awkward shit
RING TOSS
First Place	Jace Wayland and Magnus Lightwood-Bane	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Era, Alec, Nico, Vex, Rosie, Vanyel, Rafaello, Amanda, Zeke, Barclay, and Janus	Emotional intuition boost
Yikes	Aymeric and Kavinsky	Daemons totally lose filter and start saying the most awkward shit
ARCHERY
First Place	Alec Lightwood-Bane	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Nico, Vex, Aymeric, Zeke, Magnus, Kavinsky, and Janus	Unique items
Yikes	Rosie and Barclay	Uncooperative powers (very minor, non-dangerous incidents) and accurate memory of silly dreams
SPARRING
First Place	Kavinsky	The ability to "say just the right thing" once this week
Still Good	Era, Nico, Vex, Rosie, Aymeric, Rafaello, Zeke, Barclay and Janus	Emotional intuition boost
Yikes	Alec, Vanyel, Jace, and Magnus	Daemons totally lose filter and start saying the most awkward shit

Contests of Strength

ARM WRESTLING
First Place	Ezekiel	Precognitive dream later that night
Still Good	Era, Alec, Nico, Rosie, Aymeric, Vanyel, Rafaello, Magnus, Kavinsky and Janus	Unique items
Yikes	Vex and Jace	Uncooperative powers (very minor, non-dangerous incidents) and accurate memory of silly dreams
HIGH STRIKE
First Place	Era	Precognitive dream later that night
Still Good	Alec, Nico, Vex, Jace, Zeke, Magnus, Kavinsky and Janus	Unique items
Yikes	Rosie and Aymeric	Uncooperative powers (very minor, non-dangerous incidents) and accurate memory of silly dreams

See also detailed dice roll information for: darts, ring toss, arm wrestling, high strike, and archery.

Kissing Booth

And what would a fair be, without a kissing booth?

Just like the rest of the fair, the odd thing is that there is of course no payment required.

Instead, a large and lovely lantern hangs behind the booth. It seems to glow a little brighter every time a kiss is transacted. It's hard to know exactly what this means, but considering that emotional intimacy lights the streets of the city, one might guess that F.A.T.E.S. is saving up this particular energy for something special.

But until then, it's a good excuse to make out.

Comments

[miss_brilliant]

Amanda still can't help flushing, although that may be the remains of the alcohol in her system, so she uses crouching to scoop Hedy up as a way to hide it.

"No. I don't really know where she's native to, actually. I got her on another world, the one I was in before I came here, but I wasn't a native of that place either. She's a Eevee." The fact that's part of a larger class of creatures doesn't seem important, at the moment. "And don't worry, she doesn't bite. She's really too friendly for her own good sometimes."

Hedy seems to take a mild affront at this, letting out the kind of dramatic huff a dog might when being denied a treat. Amanda chuckles a little, ruffling Hedy's fur fondly before looking back to the young man. She'd known a few people who'd used canes, in the circles she'd frequented in her youth before going off to college and trying to leave all that behind as best she could. She sort of regretted that, now. Still, she doesn't even have to think about how to reach out a hand to shake so he doesn't have to shift the cane--and, maybe if he looks, he'll notice that her own fingers move a little strangely, curling in and seeming to take deliberate force to move them out to a 'normal' position.

"If you're asking that, though, I'd guess you're part of the newest arrivals. Amanda Perry. I'd say welcome but...well, under the circumstances, I don't think that's a really suitable greeting around here."

[ex_stony881]

Kaz hates skin to skin contact, but the first thing he did on arrival was dry his gloves so he could wear them, which means he has no hesitation in taking her hand and returning a firm handshake. It's a surprisingly masculine gesture — not that there aren't female merches or other leaders where he's from, but it's not entirely the norm, and it tells him a bit about her.

"Kaz Brekker," he returns the introduction, lifting his gaze from where he's been examining the 'Eevie' again. "Welcome's fine. It's all the same to me. I had this--" he jerks a thumb at the crow on his shoulder, and it pecks at him agreeably. "To catch me up to speed."

Or, some semblance of it anyway. It didn't prepare him for the fair. Or the people, really. Or the hollowness in his stomach when he thought of home.

[miss_brilliant]

Amanda chuckles, giving a knowing glance to the gray parrot on her own shoulder. "Yeah, they tend to do that. Sometimes they can be a little too...clinical for some people."

She'd been able to parse what Graced had told her quickly, maybe too quickly for her own comfort, thanks to her own knowledge of computers--which had just meant she'd had too clear of an idea as to just how potentially awful the whole thing was.

"Nice to meet you, Kaz. Are you...ah, form a world with this kind of technology? Because if...well, I'm not much an expert on a lot of the things around here, but I am pretty good with machines, if you need a better crash course than these things tend to give there."

'Pretty good', says the technopath who could probably reprogram most things about her own daemon's behavior if she wanted to. But she figures since that's still a new thing, she can be modest about it.

[ex_stony881]

Hey, they're bird-daemon buddies, that's cool. It took Kaz a couple of other conversations to realize not all daemons were the same shape, and he felt like his had made an obvious choice given how much crow symbolism he had in his outfit and gang back home. He'd still refused to let it have a name. (Names are power.) But it does make him wonder what about this woman had inspired a parrot.

"You're correct: my world doesn't have anything like this," he admits. Better to admit that weakness now and learn, early, so he can perhaps better falsify that information later if he needs to. "But- It seems to get on all right on its own."

"Not that I don't want to learn," he continues, with a smile that could almost be called charming, a rare sight to anyone who actually knows him. "I'd appreciate any help you could offer."

[miss_brilliant]

Amanda wasn't terribly big on symbolism and the meaning of things like animals and colors herself--she saw the world in patterns, but the ones that were easily and logically explained with numbers and subjective evidence, not myth and old stories as fascinating and entertaining as those were sometimes--but she also sometimes wondered about Graced's form. She'd never had a bird before, but she knew from a few documentaries that Graced looked a lot like that one parrot who had apparently had the biggest vocabulary and best understanding of human language. So hopefully it said something good.

She nods, "Well, thankfully, even if I love computers I don't think there's anything wrong with worlds that don't have them. I'd probably be a little lost, but I try to keep an open mind about those things. Try being the pretty operative word."

She can't help smiling back, giving a little somewhat self deprecating shrug. "I'd be happy to, I ah...I think I've gotten to be a better teacher lately. I had to help someone learn how to use technology that wouldn't exist for another four decades for him, once. But...I might still jump a couple steps ahead, I tend to assume a lot of things are basic knowledge for everyone. The problem of being a professional, I guess. But, yeah, any questions you have right now, just right off the top of your head?"

[ex_stony881]

"I understand it's able to record written or spoken words and even images in order to process them, but unlike a person it can send that information out to other ones like it. That's how we can user them to have conversations," Kaz says immediately, deciding to provide something of a grounding for his question so she didn't have to make any assumptions about what he already knew. "But what I want to know is, can it send that information without my permission? Can it send it to anyone? Can someone else access the information even if it hasn't been sent? Is there a way to make sure it only records what it's told and is otherwise off?"

Just kind of jumping into the privacy and security deep end, but it's something he's been concerned about it since those jeweled camera eyes were revealed to be more than just a normal crow's.

[miss_brilliant]

Some people might be overwhelmed by the rush of questions, especially when they're a little tipsy, but Amanda takes it all in readily and nods to show she understands.

"Starting in order," she says, smirking. "Yes, they can send information without our permission. So far, Graced hasn't done that to me." She gives the bird a sideways look, "I don't know if that's because I'm open about a lot of things, or because she knows I could probably shut her down quicker than most people here."

You're very confident in your ability to control me. Graced says, stilted like all the daemons, but maybe a bit amused. You were not always.

Amanda chooses to ignore that. Yes, she knows it's good that her confidence has improved, but she still doesn't want to seem like an egotistical know it all. "I don't know if they've sent anything just to one specific person, but I know a couple people have had things shared with all of us without their owner's permission. They can probably send them to a specific person without being told to, though, since it's pretty much the same principle. As for accessing anything you haven't sent out…" she bites her lip; what she can do--what she is--is still so new, it's hard to discuss.

"I don't think most people could. But people like me...definitely could without much trouble. Anyone who has the ability to get inside the daemon's data could do that. I wouldn't," she says, quickly. "I'd never do that to someone." Well, maybe she'd do it to her roommate and her roommate's ex due to how their breakup is affecting her sleep cycle, but that's different. "But some people might."

She pushes her hair back behind an ear. "And for the last thing...again, anyone who knows how to get into the daemon's protocols could shut that function down without too much trouble. I definitely could, if you want me to. I can...understand a need to protect certain things."

Like, maybe, the things she did when thinking about her not-boyfriend.