Quest 325

[primrosella]

It's a bit ominous, isn't it, a carnival coming to town this close to the start of October? We've had our good Octobers and our bad Octobers--or, well, perhaps I ought to say our bad Octobers and our worse Octobers. I don't recall the first one I spent here as being so very bad, really, but it was quite some time ago and before I really knew much of anything about the City, so it might've been that everything still seemed so frightening then that I didn't really know any better.

But it's what comes to mind most every year at this time of year, by now. The leaves change colors and the air gets cooler and the days get shorter and shorter, and sometimes it seems as though it's just old habit to spend the month of September, well...getting ready to endure October.

We've had carnivals before, too, and...well. I've nothing against harmless fun, if it really is harmless in the first place.

But I don't think we've had an October before without the deities, have we? I wonder, then. I'm sure it's not too much to hope that this one might go quietly for a change, but just the same, it's only sensible to be better safe than sorry, too.

Comments

[misterblackbird]

I'm rather glad I'm not the only one feeling a bit apprehensive about October. Even without the 'deities', I wonder how it might be.

[primrosella]

I suppose it'll answer one question, really, won't it? Whether or not all the awful things that happen in October were the fault of the deities, or of the City itself? It might well be that things are better this year, but...well, just the same, it's October in the City, and that's always worth at least a bit of pause.

[misterblackbird]

Yes, precisely. I rather hope it's better than usual. Otherwise, I don't know, I might almost feel like I shouldn't have blamed the 'deities' for the usual horrors of October, if it turns out the worst of it was the City's fault and not theirs.

Certainly, from what I'm hearing from the new set in charge of things, it does seem as though no small part of the curses come from the City itself.

I shall still be spending the next few days in preparation.

[primrosella]

Yes, that's true. Still, even so...the new set at least seems to be trying to help us, somewhat, which isn't something one could really say for the deities, is it? If it is the City after all, then of course it's wrong to blame them for it, but they might also have tried to help us a bit more, as well.

My, we're quite accustomed to the old habit of battening down the hatches by now, aren't we?

[misterblackbird]

I don't even know what to call them, really.

But, yes, they do seem to have decent intentions, at least. At first, they reminded me of the 'Stewards' who came in with much the same message. But they turned on us soon enough. I think these newcomers would have shown their true colours by now.

Yes, I do wonder sometimes if there was something more the 'deities' could have done. I'm beginning to wonder how many truths and how many lies we might have believed.

It's rather unfortunate, but we are.

[primrosella]

And that's something to be grateful for, at least. Even if things still aren't the best, they're better than they once were, and that's something.

[misterblackbird]

Even though I still have this terrible concern that it may not last for much longer. But that rather is my nature, I think.

Are you well-prepared for October, whatever may come of it?

[primrosella]

Well, and we've seen enough of the City to know that that's rather how it goes, sometimes. But that's all the more reason to enjoy it while it lasts, isn't it?

I think we'll be all right, yes. As best we can be, anyway--and it's only a month to last, after all.

[misterblackbird]

I suppose it is. Once again, we shall live as best we can between the curses.

November's usually markedly less wretched, as compared to October.

[primrosella]

Mm, that's very true. And it'll be Thanksgiving again, too! That's always something to look forward to, really. It's such a nice holiday, I'm glad to have come to celebrate it.

[misterblackbird]

And Christmas after, of course. But, no, you're quite right: I wasn't sure what to think of Thanksgiving at first, but I have rather come to like it.

voice;

[sleepingstar]

What does a carnival have to do with October?

[She is also stalking your conversation with Cain. She's no longer in love with him now that the curse is over, but she still takes an interest in him. It's not like she has anything better to do.]

voice;

[primrosella]

[Oh, my, it seems that the ninja has not worn off entirely since the last curse, has it.]

Well, it's...er, it's not that it's the carnival itself, exactly, but that it's something new and different right on the eve of October, as it were. It's a bit like seeing dark clouds before a storm, I suppose you could say.

voice;

[sleepingstar]

[On no, this is an older curse -- back when Pai was in love with Cain. The ninja is just part of who she is.]

You think something will go wrong at the carnival?

voice;

[primrosella]

I think it's--well, it's just, sometimes the City has a way of, er, doing things like that, and so as it is, it's better to be safe than sorry, really? Not that I think it's good to be pessimistic about such things, of course, but after awhile one does develop rather a touch of...er, skepticism, I suppose you might say.

voice;

[sleepingstar]

What are you doing to be safe?

[hexuality]

I've been wondering the same. I could do without the carousel animals coming to life again, for instance.

[primrosella]

Ugh, couldn't we all. Do you think it'll be better, though, this year with the deities gone?

[hexuality]

I don't know, and I don't want to let myself hope for too much, but I can't help it. I know most people don't trust Anonymous, but... Well, they haven't been terrible.

[primrosella]

It's a bit sad, isn't it, to have to look at it that way in the first place? But even so, you're right--there's still some hope to be had in the thought that things aren't as bad as they could be, and that's something.

and then the oct calendar happened OOPS

[hexuality]

As long as we aren't invaded by aliens again.

so much for their hopes and dreams

[primrosella]

My, we really have seen it all, rather, haven't we?

the city: crushing dreams since 2005

[hexuality]

Enough to joke about it and sound a little mad, yes. You've seen a bit more, though. Any tips to share with those of us bracing for October?

that's how we do it

[primrosella]

I don't know if they're tips so much as just common sense, really, but--well, of course you ought to have a safe, small place to go that's about as well-barricaded as you can make it, and with supplies like water and the food out of the boxes inside, and of course matches and things, those kinds of essentials. You also ought to get in the habit of checking the Network the very first thing you do every morning, and continuing to do it every so often throughout the day, just to make certain that something hasn't, er, snuck up on you, as it were. And then of course there's the hardest bit, which is to remember that it's a month trying to make us feel awful, and that people will end up doing awful things because of it, and that we must do our very best not to hold that against them no matter how hard it is, because in the end that's just what the City wants.

[hexuality]

[Ginny totally has a magical cabin in the woods as a safehouse.]

That last bit—that's the most important. Someone asked me once if it's really so easy to just brush aside what someone's done under a curse. Because I know how awful it feels, to have said or done something to hurt someone you care about and it wasn't you, and your friends are just willing to say it's alright when it's far from it. But it's true, isn't it? They know you'd never do something like that. That's what matters.

[had_not_lived]

Safe or not it's kind of hard to resist it. I mean-- if it's not awful, in the end, I'd hate to miss out on the fun.

[primrosella]

That is rather the way, isn't it? All the sights and sounds are rather tempting, really. And, well...so long as one is careful...

[had_not_lived]

I'm trying not to be too suspicious. Things aren't always better-- we've still got curses after all-- buti have to admit it does seem like the Anonymous people are less... Well, against us than the Deities were, most of the time.

Besides, the food's really good.

[primrosella]

Oh, is it really? What are you having? Is it sweet?

[had_not_lived]

Have you ever had funnel cake?

[primrosella]

Funnel cake? Er...I'm not sure if I have, actually. Is it shaped like a funnel, perhaps, or...?

[had_not_lived]

I think it's called that because they pour it through a funnel. It's a long tangled piece of dough that's fried, with powdered sugar on it.

[primrosella]

Oh! I know just what you mean, yes! We hadn't called it a funnel cake, but I've had those before--or something rather like them, anyway.

[had_not_lived]

It's really good! And there are plenty of other things. Mostly fried things, really. And donuts.

[Donuts warrant their own category, even when fried.]

[anunluckypenny]

I'm sure it'll be better than it's been before. The anonymous group... they're really trying to help us, you know? I think it almost has to be better.

[primrosella]

It does seem that way, yes. And of course there's nothing wrong with hoping for the best, so long as one is careful, too.

[anunluckypenny]

It's hard to balance hopeful and careful. The hopeful alone is getting harder, you know? I have a bad feeling about October, even though it'll probably be fine.