let's go to the carnival!

[shelliemay]

the carnival meme

WHAT TO DO: 1. Post with your character! 2. Pick a scenario and reply to people! 3. Have fun and try not to get sick on the roller coaster! OPTIONS: 1. Games: From classic ring toss to the shooting gallery, here's your chance to win a prize for yourself or for that special someone. Some say the games at a carnival are rigged, but maybe, just maybe, you'll get lucky! 2. Food and Drink: The sweet smell of funnel cake and the familiar briny aroma of popcorn draw you over to the food and drink tent. There's cotton candy, candied nuts, and cheep booze, all here for your enjoyment. 3. Classic Rides: The carousel, the ferris wheel. All carnivals need these classic rides for kids and adults who aren't looking for the excitement of the faster-paced rides. Snuggle close to your partner and see if you can see your house from the top of the wheel. 4. Something More Exciting: This is for thrill-seekers. Here you'll find the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Gravitron, the Screamin' Swing--all the rides designed to make you lose your lunch. Hope you didn't have too much cotton candy! 5. Freakshow: Do they really have a bearded lady in that tent? It's time to find out. Buy a ticket and see the greatest oddities the world has to offer. 6. Tunnel of Love: Or perhaps tunnel of mild boredom. The red-tinted lights and quasi-romantic music are meant to make this ride a great makeout spot, if the chemistry is there. 7. Hall of Mirrors: You and your partner entered, thinking it would be easy to get out again, but dead ends abound in this wacky mirror-maze, and each mirror seems to show a more and more distorted image of each of you. 8. Fortune Teller: Whether one of the creepy machines or the even creepier women dressed up in a culturally insensitive costume, you cross someone's palms with silver and get your future told. Will it be happiness forever with your partner, or will ill tidings be bound your way? (Feel free to use this online tarot spread for extra fun!) 9. Wildcard: Any situation of your choosing happens in a carnival today! Go with the flow.

Comments

[goingthroughaphase]

She snickers a little. "I wouldn't mind. You'd probably have to train me a bit first though."

Finally it was time, and she picked up the burger to take a bite.

"...oh my god."

[batgirl_babs]

She grinned from behind her own before enjoying her own first bite. And enjoying less so the quick work of a napkin she had make afterwards.

"Told you," she trilled, with a wink.

[goingthroughaphase]

With a suppressed laugh, she swallows her mouthful and nods. "Of course you're right," she replies. "That's probably one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had."

[batgirl_babs]

"Good, because I clearly need every available temptation to get you to come visit frequently. And they mail them frozen, so expect care packages, now and again."

[goingthroughaphase]

"Oh please, I'll take any excuse I can get to visit. But care packages will always be appreciated," she adds with a wink.

[batgirl_babs]

"They're going to wonder who keeps sending you packages that animals are paying rapt attention to," she joked, taking an all-too large bite of her own burger.

[goingthroughaphase]

She snickered. "At least once they find out it's vegetarian, I won't have to share."

One of the perks of being the only vegetarian at the institute.

[batgirl_babs]

"Hah, advantages everywhere. Though I'm a bit surprised you're the only one. How long have you been vegetarian?"

Asked with genuine interest while working her way down a fry.

[goingthroughaphase]

"Well, in all fairness, our powers really speed up our metabolism. I'm kind of lucky that mine aren't as much energy as some of the others' do."

Pausing a moment to take a bite of her burger, Kitty thought for a moment as she chewed. "Since junior high, I think?" she said, trying to count back. "Even though my family's not the most observant with Jewish customs, my parents do follow a lot of the dietary restrictions. So I just cut out the rest."

[batgirl_babs]

"That would make sense," she said with a nod, "by which I mean absolutely all of it."

She swirled a fry in some ketchup, munching on it happily.

"I'll also admit I never really thought about how having powers might run at different rates of calorie burn. You learn something new every day."

[goingthroughaphase]

Taking another bite of her burger, she chased it down with a swig of her soda. "Thanks. And yeah, it definitely makes sense once you think about it, but it's not really something people consider if they don't have to deal with it."

[batgirl_babs]

"I mean, there's so much to think about, don't get me wrong. I mean, just watching the enemies you deal with on the news, sheesh. I wouldn't go near them without a tank division backing me up!"

Translation: what Kitty and her friends did meant Barbara admired her deeply.

[goingthroughaphase]

She laughed a little. "What about you? Man, some of the guys you've gone up against are actually terrifying! I don't know how you do it."

And Barbara did all of that without powers. That, to Kitty, was even more admirable.

[batgirl_babs]

"Honestly, some of them just...need help. And I remember that when dealing with them. They're people in pain. Others..."

Her mind slipped to a laughing face, and she couldn't suppress a shudder.

"Others I just would rather avoid forever."

[goingthroughaphase]

She nodded. "That's kinda what I mean, though. Knowing the difference between who needs help and who you can't help."

Kitty herself tried to help those she could, but sometimes it was hard knowing who could be reached and who couldn't.

[batgirl_babs]

She nodded, and sighed.

"It's not easy. It helps to have a good mentor who's been pondering that exactly problem for a long time. And there's a lot of instinct to it, in the end."

[goingthroughaphase]

"I can imagine. It's like that sometimes with other Mutants whose powers are first awakening. Not all of them want to be helped either."

[batgirl_babs]

"I can't imagine what that's like for them. I mean, there's all this potential for the...but it must be so confusing, and make them feel terribly alone, I would think. Sometimes, at least."

[goingthroughaphase]

She nodded, resting her chin in one hand while dipping some sweet potato fries in some ketchup. "It can definitely feel like that at first. It's how I felt when my powers first awakened. And some people don't stop feeling that way either. That's why the Professor wants to reach out to as many people as we can."

[batgirl_babs]

She nodded, listening carefully.

"One day, if you're willing, you'll have to tell me what it was like. In the meantime, I know what to look for in case I meet distressed people."

[goingthroughaphase]

She smiled. "Well, I don't mind talking about it now. Sometimes it helps connect with other people when their powers first awaken."

Taking another bite of her burger, Kitty then chased it down with a sip of her drink.

"But it's one thing for me, having experienced it before. If I never had powers, I can't say that I'd ever really think about things like this. But you...you still fight so hard and do so much to help people, even though you don't really have to."

[batgirl_babs]

"Well of course I have to - if I stood by and did nothing while I saw people hurting, I wouldn't be me anymore."

She shrugs.

"It's just what it has to be, if I'm to, y'know, still be me."

[goingthroughaphase]

"Still, I think it's really brave to be able to get involved the way you do."

It's one of the things that she really admires about Barbara.

[batgirl_babs]

"You would too, given half a chance. But, y'know, circumstances and all that."

She took a bite that was a bit too big, hiding her mouth behind her hand for a moment until she managed it.

[goingthroughaphase]

She took another sip of her drink, thinking for a moment. "Maybe. It's hard to say how different I would've been if I never had my powers."

As much as she hated to admit, Kitty knew that she'd been pretty self-centered before her powers had awaken.

"But I guess we don't really have to imagine it, so it doesn't really matter too much."