The Circus arrives without warning...

[funvee]

The Night Circus

"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.
2a - If you want to be a performer, add a tent number.
or
2b - If not, leave it blank.
3 - Tag others. Do NOT roll if they already have a number in their subject line. Roll (or choose) if they do not.

The Choices

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. On the other side is either a fortune teller to tell you your future. 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.

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.

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 closes 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 - 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

Thomas Raith || The Dresden Files

[emptynight]

4

[theillusionist]

[The crowd settles in, each person bringing an aroma of spiced apples or sugared popcorn or rich and heady smoke from the bonfire. The sharp scents meld together, creating a strange but familiar atmosphere within the dark confines of the tent. They sit and wait, and time passes slowly - how long before the illusionist appears?

And then there is a woman, green-eyed and pretty and of indiscernible age, sitting on the last remaining chair in the tent, the one directly across from Thomas. She is completely dressed in white, the lack of color oddly complimenting her pale skin and dark hair, atop which rests a jauntily-tilted white top hat. She smiles mysteriously, rises, and silently walks forward to the center of the tent.

As she does so, the hem of her dress leaves behind a series of white ribbons and roses and a pair of snow-white doves that soar to the darkness of the recesses above.]

Lara Raith || The Dresden Files

[seductress]

6

[darlingofhiseye]

[[ Of course, it was Inari's idea to go to the circus once she heard about it from friends. Sure, she would have gone with her friends but her older sister never seemed to do anything fun except family paperwork (and Papa really was so boring with all of it) and it was about time she got out of the house to do something like this.

Inari pauses at the largest tent in the circus, looks up at the sign, and then back to Lara behind her, smiling brightly. ]] What about this one?

Irene Adler || BBC Sherlock

[womanwhobeatyou]

>| <--john's face especially since the prompt is 5 HAHAHA

[blogged]

[He waits by the grand clock just past the ticket booth, checking his phone every so often, but usually just watching the clock, and keeping an eye on the crowd. His outfit is simple: black overcoat, jeans, boots - but there's a splash of color, in the form of a red carnation tucked into the buttonhole of his jacket.

He's an idiot.]

Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock (BBC)

[thisismorefun]

9 -- The Ice Garden

[sociallyinvisible]

(ooc: Want to play? :) )

River Tam (The Doctor) - Firefly/Doctor WHo AU

[theywerewaiting]

7

[morethangifted]

He's content to wander and to watch, for the most part, occasionally following her into tents or pulling her towards one that catches his eye. But there's so much to see, even without going in, that for the most part, the circus paths have been enough.

This tent, though, calls to him, and he grins, lacing his fingers through hers and tugging her towards the entrance. He keeps hold of her hand, carefully, as he picks up a jar near the entrance and opens it, taking a deep breath.

The first story to unfold in front of them is a familiar one, a fairytale, and he squeezes her hand as it starts to draw them in.

Neal Caffrey - White Collar

[smileforaliving]

9

[womanwhobeatyou]

[Irene walks into a tent and stops short. Very little surprises her, but the Circus has managed it many a time tonight, and the Ice Garden is just the latest in that string of surprises. She steps out of the way of the door, kicking up a small cloud of fine snow as she does, and remarks to no one in particular, though she is easily heard by anyone near the tent's entrance]

I feel underdressed.

Molly Hooper - Sherlock (BBC)

[itwasntworkingforme]

1

[imakemyway]

The fortune teller who runs this tent is an old friend, and also out, at the moment. That's why it's Irene that Molly will find sitting at the table, once she passes the beaded curtain. Not that she'll tell how she's gotten here or what she's doing. She can read the cards well enough to fake a true talent for it to almost anyone who comes looking.

She smiles at the other angel, leaning back in her chair as she shuffles the cards. "Come to hear your future?"

Helen Magnus - Sanctuary

[ifyouaretiredofchains]

9

[ofcourseyoureimpressed]

[[Would you be up for Fae!Five? >> Otherwise we can go Modernverse. Just let me know.]]

Mycroft Holmes - Sherlock (BBC)

[aboveallthat]

8, if that's alright?

[womanwhobeatyou]

[When Irene stepped into the black and white striped tent, Mycroft Holmes was the last person she expected to see. Granted, anywhere besides the staunch buildings of the British government was the last place she'd expect to see Mycroft Holmes. Still, she smiles at him, lips bright red.]

Mr. Holmes, what an unexpected surprise.

Jim Moriarty | BBC Sherlock

[moriarty_hi]

1! Comment to have your fortune told

[brosif]

[The Lady sits in the dimly lit tent, her face obscured by a grey veil. Underneath that, a blindfold. He hands are bare, and too callused for one whose role in life is to sit and read. If you looked past the veil, you would see a smile with an edge to it – one that held no promise of comfort.

She reaches for the cards as easily as a part of her, unremembered, once reached for the sword.]

And what do you come to ask?

[emptynight]

[Thomas walks into the tent with an easy, self-assured swagger. There's a part of him that wants to know what the future holds, but the larger, louder part of him wants to deny it, to assure himself that there is no future, because to think there is means there is hope.

And he is still human enough to believe in hope. He stops at the sight of the Lady, and that larger, louder part of him speaks before his heart.]

"Where's the caramel apple booth?" I think I made a wrong turn somewhere.

Katherine || Catherine || Open to all

[dooms_bride]

nepeta leijon | homestuck

[moirailcompass]

6, if you're OK with MSPAFtan fangirling Nepeta

[cultofthehussiah]

[MSPAF is mapping.

He carefully climbs up and down every ladder, grabs onto and slides down the ribbons, all the while taking notes on everything, in hopes of discovering a pattern. Or, at least, for the satisfaction of knowing he's explored every single platform possible.

After all, even if he isn't in the game, it's still a good habit...]

Delirium | The Sandman | OTA (10)

[isthereawordfor]

[Maybe you've been walking through the labyrinth for hours. Maybe you just entered it. Either way, when you turn a corner and enter a new landscape you nearly stumble across a girl who seems to be in her late teens, wild hair more colors than you knew existed. Her expression's a bit confused but she seems entirely unfazed by the labyrinth itself, sitting cross-legged on the ground, watching a small swarm of fireflies circle over her head.]

Oh.

You're lost.

Connor MacLeod | Highlander

[1stmacleod]

He isn't sure how he stumbled in here, but after a few twists and turns he's utterly lost. When he rounds the corner and sees the girl, he pauses, awkward. "Are you lost, too?"

[CLOWN] || Mana Walker || D.Gray-man

[misdirection]

[In the centre of the little golden and red tent is a clown.

He has on a large, white and red costume of the trade which billows out and balloons his stomach, legs and arms. Around his neck is a large ruffled collar and the cuffs of his shirt mirror it, and down the front of the suit are three large, golden decorative buttons. His face is painted a porcelain white with a red-tipped nose, a painted and perpetually smiling mouth and the shape of his eyes are outlined in a similar fashion, though a vertical line is also painted over his left eye to add to the pierrot aesthetic.

His kid-gloved hands are preoccupied with juggling balls at the moment of arrival, and in some ways he seems entirely distracted by the task at hand to even notice if an audience is gathering or not. ]

[kandescence]

[Kanda has wandered in purely out of curiosity. This whole place is a curiosity--a sudden city of tents on what he's certain had been an empty field a few hours before. The exorcist had crossed this way earlier today, and now recrossing, he finds this surreal scene.

He pushes the canvas of the tent flap aside as he enters, frowning at what he sees. Something about it--the clown or the scene in which he finds him--carries a dreamlike sense of not-quite-familiarity, like an itch at the back of his mind, but it makes him want to watch rather than turn and walk away.]

Cloud Strife ❄ (Crisis Core) FF7 ❄ OTA

[anonfantry]

Connor MacLeod | Highlander | OTA

[1stmacleod]

.

8

[a_singular_cherubim]

The room is full of fire and soft rustling sounds, breezes eddying up from the floor to create tiny dust devils of lint and sand and dropped candy wrappers. It's warm, so warm it seems strange the candles aren't all melting.

If Connor approaches the strange tree, he may become aware of something big and bright among the branches, and a set of dozens-no, hundreds-of eyes peering down at him.

AU Maxim Horvath | Sorcerer's Apprentice | OTA

[bitterguardian]

.

7

[grimholdkeeper]

"I'm almost afraid to open one," Balthazar murmurs in an aside to his companions. The shelves and tables covered with vials and jars are alluring, no question. Still, the strangeness of the place has him just slightly on edge, and that he's with two of the most important people in his world makes him overprotective.

"I don't think there's any malice," he adds, "but that doesn't mean there's no danger..."

Dirk Gently | Douglas Adams books of same name | OTA

[dirk_gently]

.

Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock (BBC) AU (4)

[supposedtobewriting]

It's a long, strange story how he got involved with the Circus. His blood helped him, his way with words helped and his tri8cks, the ones that he was so fond of, well, they were his true key involved.

And now Now he's grinning and preforming for a crowed of people, making hats into birds, scarves dance on their own, children turn into cats and all sorts of things.

But he's still fond of words, so for every trick? Every act of illusion he preforms, he asks the crowd for a story, calls out to one person or another to tell him a tale.

And sometimes his tricks go along with the tale, bringing the story to life, pulling a bit of that world into this one.

Bringing a little magic into people's lives.

I was assuming you wanted to go way AU, or they could know each other. Whatever you want.

[lessthanasanemanshould]

He's spent a lot of time in the illusionist's tent, hovering towards the back, watching the show with quiet interest. Now and then he wanders out, goes to look somewhere else, even intends to stay away, but the circus is easy to get lost in, and John keeps finding himself back in front of this tent. And when he finds himself in front of it, it's hard not to go back inside, to go back to the show.

He hasn't spoken, hasn't be called on and asked for a story yet, but if he's going to keep coming back, it's really just a matter of time.

molly carpenter | the dresden files | ota

[probationer]

Mikaela || Supernatural || 63!Michael

[farfromheavn]

8.

[dontsaydevil]

[Luciana is standing under the tree, slowly putting out different candles. Snuffing out other peoples' wishes, and smiling to herself as she does it.]

Loki | Marvel movieverse (4 or 9)

[delusionaldreams]

(( specify which tent please~! ))

9 please

[compulsivedetriment]

[This was the most beautiful place she'd ever been to. It was also the quietest. Harriet could barely contain the urge to yell and see if anyone was around.

Instead, she tightens her coat around herself and continues on.]

Elijah | The Vampire Diaries

[themoralone]

7? Nordic gods and vampires chilling?

[brosif]

[She is not meant to be here. That much is clear. Sif looks around her, hand reaching for a sword that is not there. And then she looks at her newfound companion.

She does not need a sword to defend herself, should the need arise.]

Is this your doing, stranger?

( william herondale ) ( the infernal devices )

[feigns]