The Circus arrives without warning...

[funvee]

The Night Circus Meme

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night." - Erin Morgenstern

As you wander the grounds of Le Cirque des Rêves, black and white striped tents on all sides try to catch your attention. Which tent will you choose? Who will you meet in the tent? Or maybe you're a performer, ready to dazzle your audience as they walk in.

How does this meme work?
1 - Post a comment with your character's name and canon in subject.
2 - Set a scene or give some preferences.
3 - Tag others.

The Choices (expanded!)


1 - Isobel - The fortune teller. The tent is dark and silent. As you walk in, the noise and laughter of the rest of the circus falls away. As you feel blindly along the velvet tent walls, you encounter a beaded curtain. Will the fortune-teller tell your future? Are you the one seated behind the table? Have you stumbled into someone else's session and now must apologize or commiserate? Or maybe the fortune teller has left for a few moments, leaving behind nothing on the table but a set of black and white Tarot cards.

2 - Tsukiko - The contortionist. The contortionist does not have a tent. Round a corner, follow the path that circles the tents and you are likely to find the contortionist performing feats of extraordinary dexterity and flexibility, slowly stuffing herself (or himself!) into a small glass box on the ground. Perhaps you're watching in awe with your friend, or you're trying to speak to the contortionist. Or you and your fellow visitors are trading gasps of wonder.

3 - Widget and Poppet - The animal trainers. The trainers perform outside of the tents, coaxing a multitude of black and white kittens to dance, to leap through hoops and run up and down curious and delighted audience members. Or maybe slip into the tent behind them, where two other animal trainers do similar tricks with leopards and panthers. Or perhaps you are the performer, and you and your partner have some unexpected tricks for the audience.

4 - The Illusionist - The illusionist performs in a small, black and white striped tent that holds no more than twenty. With theatrical gestures, the illusionist transforms a gentleman's scarf into a half-dozen white doves, produces flames that dance but do not burn, and even causes a tree to grow from an empty seat, pure white and silver blossoms blooming before the audience's eyes. Is it magic?

5 - Celia and Marco - The lovers. The fantastic circus and all its wonders are nothing but a backdrop for the forbidden love that has blossomed between the two of you. How will you keep your love a secret? Kisses stolen between striped tents? Bittersweet goodbyes as the sun rises and the wrought iron gates of the Night Circus close for another day?

6 - Cloud Maze - This tent is one of the tallest in the circus, and once you slip between the black and white striped flaps, you see a tower of fluffy white mist. As you touch the mist, it is soft and warm against your hand. The more you explore, the more you see hanging platforms, ropes, and ribbons hidden among the white clouds. Through them you can climb to the top of the tower of white cloud. Do not be afraid of falling or jumping off the tower or the platforms, for the white misty clouds will support your weight, catch and envelop you in white.

7 - Bedtime Stories - This tent is small, almost hidden among the rest of the circus. Within is a room filled with shelves and tables, and bottles and jars litter every flat surface. Open a bottle, and a scent escapes. Breathe deep, and a story unfurls for you, so real that you can feel every touch. Will you share the stories with your companion? Or dare each other to try ever stranger experiences?

8 - The Wishing Tree - There is nothing in this tent except a sprawling tree that bears candles instead of leaves. Many of the candles are lit, their flames flickering in the slight breeze that permeates the tent. A card on the tree instructs you to take a candle from the tree and make a wish on it, lighting it with the flame from another wish. What will you wish for? It's said that wishes lit on the Wishing Tree come true...

9 - The Ice Garden - Everything inside this tent is white, and it takes only a moment to notice that the sprawling garden within the tent is created entirely of ice. Every posy petal, every delicate branch of a tree. The 'grass' beneath your feet is pure white snow, and brushing by a tree will send another sprinkle of white onto your head. How will you and your companion explore this place?

10 - The Labyrinth - This tent is just like any other from the outside, but as you walk in, it changes. Perhaps you'll find yourself in a library that smells of leather and is lit by flickering candles. Or a valley full of fine white sand flanked by rolling hills. Or maybe you find yourself in a giant silver birdcage. The possibilities within the Labyrinth are endless, but there are always two constants:
1 - the way into each new part of the labyrinth is not the way out.
2 - there is always a way out.

11 - The Living Statues - Scattered throughout the circus are statues. Statues so real that they seem to be human, but so still that they cannot be anything but an illusion. The lovers. The angel. The ballerina. All of them seem to stand without moving, but by the end of the night, the lovers are embracing, the angel has offered someone a flawless white rose, the ballerina has pirouetted her evening away. Do you stand and try to catch the statues moving? Or do you try to provoke them into moving? Or perhaps just stand and speak with one of the others also doing the same.

12 - A Drop of Moonlight - The Circus' refreshments are as varied as its entertainment. Warm Viennese coffee keeps patrons awake through the night. Crackly, cinnamon sugar dusted pastries shower fingers with fine sugar and spice. Chocolate mice squeak in their bags when they are bought and melt away into nothing but the memory of chocolate on the tongue. Every visitor to the circus should try at least one delight, share a bite with a friend or a friendly stranger.

13 - Wild Card - There are more wonders at the Night Circus than the list above. Watching the acrobats or trapeze artists? Run through a Hall of Mirrors that shows uncannny insights? Eat delicious circus treats until dawn? All are possible!

How much of Le Cirque des Rêves can you explore before dawn?

Comments

Celia Bowen | The Night Circus

[theillusionist]

Annie Cresta | The Hunger Games

[thedeepend]

12

[emptynight]

[The circus is busy, but somehow does not seem to feel crowded. Thomas has just left one of the vendors, juggling a black and white striped bag of cinnamon sugar pastries and a tall cup of coffee. But something catches his attention, a taste of something... familiar, and he turns his head towards the young woman he has just passed, the familiar Hunger stirring deep under his skin.]

Irene Adler || BBC Sherlock || Below, also game for others

[womanwhobeatyou]

Option 9

[The Ice Garden is breathtaking in its cold perfection, and Irene seems almost a part of it, at home in her white dress and pale skin. The only things about her that stand out as she walks a garden path, her fingers reaching up to run over a knotted branch of pure ice, is the curve of red lips and the curl of dark hair.]

Option 11

[The statue stands like the stone it resembles, a dashing man in grey wool, his skin coloured the same shade. He bows, seemingly without moving, but as heartbeats tick, the blood red rose in his hand reaches her fingertips, and the flower falls into her hands without him having seemed to move.]

Option 12

[Midnight at the Circus had come and gone with a burst of sparks from the bronze cauldron at its heart. Hours had passed in examining the Circus' wonders, and now Irene stands in a briskly moving line as the grizzled man manning the cart pours small enameled cups of rich, strong coffee.]

9

[the_new_sexy]

Freon.

[This, ladies and gentlemen, is a guess. Because Sherlock Holmes does not believe in magic.]

Hotaru Tomoe | Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

[comesrebirth]

Neal Caffrey | White Collar

[prettyboyconman]

Quinn Fabray ♔ Glee

[ambitious]

Clove ✄ The Hunger Games

[sharpened]

Bonnie Parker ✯ Bonnie & Clyde (modern au)

[dimlylighted]

sigyn ∫ myth

[burdenof]

[ crossfandom welcome! i can also write a prompt if you roll. or vice versa. ]

Megamind | Megamind

[megamind]

[ Megamind is most interested in the Fortune Teller (tagger or perhaps a Fateful Encounter before her tent), Widget and Poppet (Because animals are neat; he's a viewer), the Illusionist ( trying to figure out the tricks, possibly with a few of his own), Cloud Maze (chance encounters!), Wishing Tree (who doesn't have wishes?), or indulge in sweets with the Drops of Moonlight. GAME ON! ]

1? Because TF would totally ursurp the Fortune Teller because he is a troll OR SOMETHING.

[thecardmaster]

[...Wait a minute, isn't the Fortune Teller supposed to be a woman? Because that's pretty distinctively not a woman shuffling some tarot cards and sitting in the opposite chair idly with his feet propped up.]

Varric Tethras | DA2

[biancayouminx]

[ Varric can be found watching the Illusionst, indulging his sweet tooth, or simply enjoying the Stories... such as they are. Maybe he'll even tell one to you.]

Urdnot Wrex | Mass Effect

[wrex_it_krogan]

Arya Stark | asoiaf/game of thrones

[littleorphanarry]

Re: Arya Stark | asoiaf/game of thrones

[know_nothing]

[ Jon has, despite any protests to the contrary, put Arya on his shoulders whilst they wonder the strange and wonderful carnival. Really, he's a bit skeptical. Probably the usual mummery and what not designed to entertain and dazzle a bit of coin from your pocket. He pauses at one tent, nose wrinkling as he reads the ornate banner that drapes above the entrance. ]

Ice Garden. D'you suppose it's like the Glass Gardens at home? I don't see how they'd fit a greenhouse under all that drapery.

mary bennet ∂ modern pride and prejudice

[sensibles]

[ ooc: Most likely exploring tents, but we can do (innocent, awkward) romance, if you like. :) ]

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler | X-Men: Evolution | OTA

[thefuzzyguy]

9

The Ice Garden sounded kind of lame, honestly, but with the inducer on the fritz he'd needed to duck out of the way someplace. He was back to passably human right now, but almost too transfixed by the dreamlike cold to care.

12

So his stomach is kind of in charge. He's ok with that. It was the familiar coffee smell that drew him over, but the chocolates are looking awfully appealing. For a boy his age, he has an unusual appreciation for the luxurious treats.

10

It doesn't really feel like a labyrinth. It's a scary word, and there's a wonderful, soothing calm to this place. It looks like home, smells like home even. The quiet mountains where he could spend a little time in the fresh air, as long as it was night. In fact, it's so soothing, so quiet, that he flicks the image inducer off, revealing blue fuzz and pointy ears to the world. He'll turn it on in just a moment...

12

[phantomcranefly]

Mag's also following her nose- she's been waiting ages for some shore leave, and her first order of business is to find food that isn't packaged to survive hard vacuum. Finding a striped cart at the source of the coffee smell, she nods absently at the kid by the chocolate display before studying a tray of fresh pastries carefully.

Tim Drake | DC Comics | OTA

[drake_wayne]

[Perhaps nowhere near as amazing as his tutor, the Redwing is still a spectacular act, pulling off amazing feats of acrobatics both on the ground and in the air, a flash of color among the stark black and white of the circus tents. Whoever this young man could be is unknown, his face hidden behind a birdlike cowl. His personality seems to shift, going from exuberant and charming when interacting with crowds to deadly serious when performing far from his admirers. Every now and then the Redwing will ask for an audience participant, and this is where the true magic lies. Those watching will see a spectacular visual performance as even the most rank amateur will perform as if they were born for the act, while the participant will seem to fly- and sometimes, if they truly believe, they will actually fly while the Redwing guides them.]

[thetruerobin]

*TT*

[ It was the only response Damian could have to the acrobatic display. He was mad almost every night because this hack got to perform while he was never allowed. Rules, they said; he was too young, they said, and yet no one doubted his ability. The eleven year old was forced almost every night to watch while others, Grayson, Drake, and the other riffraff had their chance in the limelight.

He stood apart from the crowd, arms crossed over his chest, staring through a mask. Out among the patrons, he never went without it. It was what set him apart from the other spectators. He watched and waited while Redwing took some peasant through the air. ]

Derek Hale | Teen Wolf | OTA

[smilederek]

[ooc: I heart circus au's, so contortionist/illusionist/statues would all be great for either au'ing Derek into one of these roles, or playing him off someone else who was. That said, if you fancy something else, then I'd be perfectly up for any of the others! Happy to write openers for prompts people want to do.]

7!

[selich]

[This was the other sort of supernatural instance Lochlann liked. Only instead of the trepidation and care he exhibited when investigating things that go bump in the night, he was flitting around, peeking into tents, reaching out and touching things whether he was meant to or not. There's so much magic here and he's thrumming alongside it with the energy of a hummingbird.

But one tent in particular catches his interest. It's small and secretive and there are so many bottles. At least he makes sure to wave in Derek's direction before ducking in.]

Usagi Tsukino | Sailor Moon | OTA

[heartmoving]

Xzar | Baldurs Gate

[stoptouchingme]

1.

[The fortune teller is scratching. Raking dirty fingernails down his cheek and staring off into the middle distance and muttering to himself. On the one hand, he could well be seeing into the future, but his grip on the present is clearly a little tenuous.]

10.

[Xzar has been alternating, intermittently, between finding the brier filled hedge maze that the Labyrinth created for him charming (in a fantasyical, fairytale kind of way) and finding it extremely frustrating. There's a tense desire to either start snapping at the hedge walls, or whimpering at them, but he contains it.

This would be a lot easier if they'd just hold still.]

12.

[It doesn't seem strange to Xzar that the tea doesn't burn his fingers, through the unfathomably thin card of the cup that it's delivered in. It seems perfectly natural. The card is barrier enough, between liquid and solid, scalding heat and windchill, and as long as the barrier exists, one shouldn't touch the other in any way at all. He's always more jarred when the universe doesn't obey the arbitrary rules that he's made up for it.

Still, he's feeling strangely calm, right now. Something in the mixed spices and fruits of the tea have him feeling lucid and well disposed towards the world. He's just going to stare at the stars for a while, while this lasts.]

Re: Xzar | Baldurs Gate

[gather_ye_rosebuds]

[Xzar isn't alone in the labyrinth, as it happens. There's a red-eyed woman threading her way between the hedges. She hasn't reached the frustration phase, yet, simply enjoying the novelty of the illusion--she assumes it's an illusion. She isn't tempted to test this until she notices a wild rose growing among the brambles. It's when she reaches for it and a stray thorn draws blood that she realizes that she's in a much stranger place than she'd realized...]

[Suddenly it's even better!]

Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock

[the_new_sexy]

The Doctor | Doctor Who

[rude_not_ginger]

11 - The Living Statues

[best_served_hot]

[The difference between reality and illusion here is not so simple as one might think. Statues, living statues, move painstakingly slow throughout the course of the evening. They begin their achingly slow movements at dusk, and finish their journey at dawn.

There is a man in a suit with dark green hazel eyes, short brown cropped hair, pristine in a black coat with white gloves, and a smattering of diamonds along the coattails that could look as though they were glimpses of the night sky. He wears black trousers, and shiny black shoes. In his hand he holds a small, shiny black globe with strange markings.

As the night wears on, he does not glance at the circus visitors who stop to stare as his hand slowly closes around the globe, crushing it. By the end of the night, the globe will have been destroyed, but in its place there will be a cascade of glittering diamonds which tumble through his fingers like a cascade of brilliant starlight.]

Eponine Thenardier || Les Misèrables

[daughter_of_a_wolf]

Option 8

[Eponine has many wishes that she would like to make, and while she doesn't believe any of them will come true, she's still enraptured with the flickering candlelight. Something is calling to her to take a candle, and deciding not to ignore it, she reaches out to pick one off the tree.]

Option 9

[While she's shivering from the cold, Eponine hardly notices it as she walk along a snowy path, her bare feet crunching in the show. She's utterly enchanted, her eyes wide and wondrous as she looks around.]

Option 12

[Where there is food, there will undoubtedly be Eponine, even though she has no money to pay for it. That never truly mattered to her anyway. She'll be eyeing a cart selling chocolates, crouched in the shadows of a tent and waiting for a chance to sneak one.]

A.B.A. | Guilty Gear

[keyobsession]

Touchi Ai/"IC" | Inazuma Eleven

[oirokeice]

9 totally rolled shhh

[coldwind]

[... Wow. If there was ever a time Ai's seen her friend breathless, now would be it. Everything is so lovely - and in every sense of the word.
The pristine ice decorating everything, and the grass of snow crunching beneath their feet; he almost doesn't want to walk through it, in fear of ruining how beautiful it is.

... He does go over to one of the trees though, running a hand over the branches with a little gasp of surprise coming out as a puff of smoke. He thought maybe it was all fake - that it was glass, or crystal. But no, that's definitely ice.

... Can he move in? Is that a thing he can do?]

Twisted Fate | League of Legends | OTA | Any option (likely the fortune teller in 1, but hey)

[thecardmaster]

1

[daughter_of_a_wolf]

[Silently, Eponine enters the fortune teller's tent, looking around for the teller himself. While she's well aware of what her fortune most likely is, she's curious as to whether or not it might be different than her mind tells her.

Softly, she speaks.]

Hello...?