The Path to Wonderland

Nah. I like weird.

Oh! Well...that's good. Because I say a lot of weird things. I'm Alice!

First Appearance || Quasi + Alice

Quasi looked up curiously when Alice picked up the kitten. It was so small and fluffy and cute and loving as it purred in her owners arms. The man couldn’t help but crack a small smile as he watched the kitten and listened to Alice.

But his smile soon faded, “Wh-what if I try to hold her and I hurt her?” he asked. Quasimodo wasn’t exactly a small guy. If it weren’t for the curve of his spine (his “hump), he’d stand at 6foot 6inches high. His arms and legs were long and lanky with big palms, long fingers and flat feet. Compared to the little girl and the even tinnier kitty, he was a massive giant.

#ddcanniversary #ddcquasi #para #para: quasi

Seeing the man smile made Alice's smile grow even more. She looked at him with innocent eyes as the softly stroked the kitten behind her ears. "You won't hurt her...it's okay. I promise. Here...I'll show you how." She was going to reach for his hand to show him how to hold the small kitten, but remembering how startled he'd gotten when they'd shaken hands, she decided to show him using her own hands instead. "Just hold her like this in one hand. Let her rest on your arm. And then with your other hand, you can carefully and gently pet her back!" A proud smile sported on Alice's face as the kitten's purring intensified.

"I don't believe I caught your name..." She said, realizing she was still talking to a virtual stranger. She remembered what her parents had said long ago, before they'd perished, and even what her sister had warned her about talking to strangers, but Alice had never been one to heed authorities warnings. "You...do have a name, right? Everyone has a name...although, if you don't, you can always pick your own! I think if I could pick my own name, I'd decide on something much more interesting than Alice. Something like...Celestine or...or Cosette! Those sound so much more interesting than just...Alice."

That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard and I’m friends with Dormouse.

...is that a bad thing?

That’d be kinda cool!

Can you imagine if someone was made of spaghetti? If they got hungry, they could just carry around marinara sauce and dunk themselves in it, and take a bite. ...but only if it grew back quickly, because it'd be rather hard to walk around missing an important body part because you'd just eaten yourself. ...although that might be considered cannibalism...

First Appearance || Quasi + Alice

Quasi’s expression grew a little distressed as she seemed to be getting upset by him pulling his hand away, “N-no…you didn’t do anything. I just…I’m not…I…” he didn’t know what to do or say as he stuttered and stumbled over himself trying to think of what he was trying to say before falling quiet and retreating back into himself nervously, his bony shoulders hunched high and his head hanging low as Quasi shoved his hands into his pockets.

His frightened eyes looked back up again when he was reassured that he didn’t need to be afraid, “Father says that the outside world is a place to fear…” he said quietly, “Before I left he told me not to trust anyone here…that I should be afraid because of all the wicked things they might say to me or do to me or to each other…” he explained to the girl. Though she hardly looked anything close to the definition of wicked. She looked sweet and genuinely nice like she claimed to be.

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Alice blinked as the man spoke and she listened closely. She smiled kindly and folded her hands in front of her, shaking her head. "I can understand why he'd say that...there are a lot of people out there that can be cruel and wicked. But...I promise you...I'm not one of those..." She tried to think of a way to show him that she meant no harm an as she heard the jingle of Dinah's collar, she smiled and turned, picking the kitten up. "This is Dinah...would you like to pet her?" She held her out, a smile on her face. "When I get startled, I like to pet her. She's good at calming me down. That, or I like to imagine myself in an entirely different situation...in a world of my own."

The kitten in her arms purred and meowed softly at Quasi which made Alice giggle. "I think she likes you. She likes everyone that I like, so it's understandable. ...I don't really know how to make you believe that I mean no harm...but honestly...I don't. I don't know how to be mean. I mean, sure, I lose my temper sometimes, but I'd never hurt someone...honest."

A looooooooooooooooooot of stretching. It took me forever to get this down.

You look kind of like your legs are made of spaghetti!

First Appearance || Quasi + Alice

Quasimodo kept his head low as the pretty girl went on talking to him like it was nothing terribly bad that had just happened, despite the guilt that weighed heavy on his shoulders.

When she offered her hand to him, he looked at it for a moment before cautiously extending a hand to her and wrapping long, spidery fingers around her tiny hand to shake it, “H-hi…” he said quickly, still hiding beneath his hood. He waited for her to finch away or recoil or scream or yell at him like people had before last time he had come out in public, and as the memories flooded back into his mind he quickly took his hand back and held it close to himself.

#ddcanniversary #ddcquasi #para #para: quasi

Alice was confused as the man in front of her retracted his hand, and it automatically made her feel as though perhaps she'd done something wrong. She blinked while looking up at him, sadness in her eyes. "I...I'm sorry..." She said, a blush creeping up her face, the heat burning on her cheeks. "Did I do something wrong?" She too hugged her hand to herself, an apologetic look on her face. "I didn't mean to...I just...I'm trying to be more outgoing...I don't really know too many people. Especially around here." She sighed, turning her head towards the train.

It took her a moment to realize that maybe she hadn't done anything wrong, and maybe the man in front of her was just as nervous about meeting people as she was. She smiled kindly, blushing again. "You don't need to be scared of me..." She promised. "I'm just...me. I won't hurt you. Really. I'm nice...I promise."

Thanks!

How'd you get to be able to do that? Wish I could do something that awesome.

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Heads Down, Thumbs Up || Open

When the carnival announced its stop in Newark, New Jersey, Violet was convinced the audiences would be made up of people straight out of The Jersey Shore. Violet found that idea intimidating, but was pleasantly surprised that her lines of ticket-bearing carnival-goers seemed just as normal as any other stop they’d made previously.

It was with a sigh of relief that Violet took the final ticket this evening, feeling the tension ebb from her shoulders as she unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it back on the hanger. The spring air was still chill, standing out in the open with just a tank top on, but Violet didn’t mind the cold. She shrugged on a grey zip-up and stuffed her hands into the pockets. Violet tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she started walking, keeping her head down and eyes glued to the ground. It was habit; why not watch the ground to prevent tripping? At least that’s what she told herself.

Violet passed all sorts of people on her way back toward the train, but unless they were Dash, she avoided eye contact. Large crowds like these made her nervous and her palms sweaty. Though it was inevitable, really, with a carnival this size, that she would eventually run into someone she just couldn’t manage to dodge in time.

"Oh. Um, hi," she said quietly, giving a small nervous smile. Get it together, Vi. “Uh, nice day, yeah?” she gave a double thumbs up, then immediately regretted it. Stupid…

#ddcanniversary #ddcviolet #para #para: violet

Of all the stops the carnival had made with Alice being on the train, New Jersey had to be one of the more dull ones. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy being there, she really enjoyed being anywhere as long as it wasn't a school classroom, but there just wasn't very many things to spark her creativity here. It was just another city, with people just like everywhere else. She hadn't seen anyone yet that would possibly become a character in one of her stories, but as she walked around the grounds when the day was over and the fun house had been closed down, she kept an eye out for someone...anyone.

She was just about to give up for the day when she overheard someone taking in the shadows, just about to leave. They were talking about some sort of adventure they were planning on going on, and of course, this sparked Alice's attention. An adventure was music to her ears. "Of course, we gotta keep quiet about this. We don't want the girls hearing about what we're doing. It'll be an adventure...that's for sure. Keeping them off our backs. But the club's right down the street. I know a guy who can get us in for real cheap. Just keep some $1s on you and we'll be in the-hey! The hell are you looking at, blondie?!" Alice jumped as the man spotted her, and quickly she ran off, towards a more popular part of the carnival.

She was about to go back to her car when she noticed someone walking nearby and she smiled, recognizing the woman. "Hi!" She called, waving to her. It was Alice's goal to become more outgoing, to easily meet more people, so forcing herself to speak to others was a start. She shrugged at the woman's question, trying her hardest to remember her name. It's a color...isn't it? Scarlett? No...that's not it...Jade? No...Violet! That's it! ...at least...I hope... "It's been fairly sunny, not too cold thankfully. Hopefully the nice weather holds out!" She said with a smile. "Have an easy day? Nobody give you any trouble or anything?"

Goal finally reached! Fuck yeah!

Woah! That's got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen!

First Appearance || Quasi + Alice

Quasi had been avoiding coming out since he had boarded the train. Luckily he hadn’t had a roommate assigned yet, so he was able to hide by himself. But the gates were going to open soon and he had to be walking around soon to try to scare people. It wasn’t his idea of a fun job, but what else would his monstrous form be good for?

Pulling his hoodie on and crossing his long arms over his stomach, trying to make himself look smaller then he was as he wandered around, trying to figure out where he was suppose to go.

No paying attention to where he was going, he felt himself stumble into someone and he reached his lengthy arms to grab them incase they were about to fall, but then he quickly pulled away, “I-I’m so sorry…” he said fearfully. Quasimodo had no experience with people really…not since the incident just before he left home to come here.

#ddcquasi #ddcanniversary #para #para: quasi

Alice had been walking around, looking at the ground as she hummed. She'd wanted to explore a bit, get to know her surroundings a bit better, but of course she'd found herself daydreaming once again, off in her own little world. There were mermaids this time, swimming along side her as they raced the clock to get to a fishing boat that had accidentally captured one of the mermaids.

She could feel her heart racing as the story raged on her mind. Time was almost up, the net was being raised out of the water. What would happen if they discovered the mermaid? Would they take her and bring her to some lab to run experiments? Would she be sent to the carnival with them as another freak show? Really, she wasn't watching where she was going, and when she bumped into someone, she let out a small squeak of surprise, smiling as they caught her.

"Oh! It's alright! It was probably my fault. I wasn't really watching where I was going and I just sort of bumped right into you! It's really me who should be apologizing!" She blushed, biting her lip. Alice didn't recognize the person in front of her and she held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Alice! I work the ticket booth at the fun house."

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Introductory || Alice & Roxanne

Roxanne hadn’t meant to embarrass the girl, she had just been genuinely curious of whether she was talking to herself or not. It was an odd thing to catch a person doing, though not the oddest thing she supposed. Her expression softened and she smiled, a silent way of showing Alice that it was okay, and it honestly didn’t matter to her.

"It’s okay, I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything." Roxanne quickly interjected in between the girl’s words when she paused. She held her hands up in an apologetic manner and shook her head. And then she quietened down and listened to the blonde haired girl, instead of babbling away aimlessly like she usually did. Her head tilted to the side and she watched her nervous movements and body language as she spoke. She really did feel bad for catching her and embarrassing her now. Lord knows Roxanne had done plenty of cringey things in her life, most of them in her few short years at the Carnival.

A small smile spread across her face and she sat down on the grass next to her. “You make up stories? What kinds of stories?” Her inner child loved the idea of stories and she was intrigued to know more if her new companion wished to share.

Roxanne sat cross-legged on the grass and leaned forward to pick at the blades on the ground in front of her. Suddenly her attention was grabbed by Alice’s words and her head flew up, an urgent expression on her face. “Oh gosh, no! No I wouldn’t do that.” She shook her head firmly. “Running to Scar is someone else’s job, so you don’t have to worry about me. Plus I don’t think you’re crazy any way. I talk to myself when I’m working sometimes, and in my car too.” She laughed. “In fact, thinking about it, I talk to myself a lot too.” She giggled, directing her smile at Alice to hopefully ease some of the fear that she could hear in her voice earlier.

#ddcroxanne #ddcanniversary #para #para: roxanne

Alice bit her lip and blinked her eyes as the other girl promised that she hadn't meant to embarrass her. Taking a deep breath, she smiled shyly. "No...I suppose you didn't..." She played with the material of her skirt, trying to keep the blush off of her cheeks. It almost startled her as she saw the smile spread on Roxanne's face, but she calmed down at the question that was asked. She could tell the other girl what her stories were about, that was easy. She could go on for hours and hours about them, really, but she knew that she had to hold herself back and not do that for fear that she'd scare her off.

"I do! They're nothing impressive...it's just mostly kids stuff. Mostly there's this girl...I suppose she looks like me, since I'd much rather live in my head than outside in the real world...it's much more entertaining there. My dream self has gone on so many amazing adventures. The one that you caught me thinking up was about the dandelion patch! The flowers become lifelike and can roar, just like a lion. And they have sharp teeth, too, that could easily bite you. But they can't bite me, because I know how to distract them. They don't like me much, though. Mostly because I'm much bigger than they are." She giggled, becoming more relaxed. "Then there are times when I've come across magical creatures, like mermaids or unicorns and I've gone on adventures with them. I could tell you some of hte stories sometime if you'd like!" She grinned, getting a bit excited at the thought of someone listening to her stories. "Most of the time I just have my cat to tell stories to. She's a good listener...but she can't give me feedback."

Any nerves that she had left were gone out the window as Roxanne promised she wasn't one to go and tattle to Scar, and that she didn't think she was crazy for talking to herself. She was at ease now, and realized that maybe it wasn't so hard to make friends. "So...what do you do at the carnival?" She asked curiously.

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Introductory || Alice & Roxanne

Roxanne was glad to be off of the train and out and about, breathing in the fresh, New Jersey air. Over the past few days, she had thought long and hard about taking some time out to spend alone. Focusing on herself would be nice, especially seeing as she would very soon be back at work and probably have absolutely no time to do that at all. With that in mind she decided to go for a walk, stretch her legs and make the most of the nice weather while it lasted. It wasn’t particularly warm - she still needed to wear a jacket - but the sun was shining and that was all Roxanne needed.

She traversed the grass towards the other side of the train, inspecting where they had parked and surveying it to see if it looked nice. Hopefully she would get the chance to have a wander off into town soon. Exploring was always one of her favourite things about arriving in a new place, and she usually ended up doing it alone, which was never really that bad. Perhaps she could find herself a companion this time? Maybe.

Just as she was passing by the last car of the train, she turned the corner to find a blonde girl who appeared to be sat on the ground, talking to herself. Roxanne was a little startled, not to mention confused, and she took a couple of steps back and surveyed the girl with a curious glance.

"Hi Alice." She replied, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I’m Roxanne." She paused for a second before asking the question that was just about ready to leap from her tongue. "Were you just talking to yourself?"

#ddcanniversary #ddcroxanne #para #para: roxanne #//hi! I'm Caryl. Nice to meet you :)

Alice blinked as she surveyed the girl in front of her, her hands fumbling with the hem of her shirt nervously. She could tell that Roxanne had heard her talking to herself, and she was beyond embarrassed. She knew it happened often, random people overhearing her speaking aloud by mistake, but still...it caught her off guard. Taking a deep breath, Alice nodded.

"I...I was...but not really." She began to explain. "You see...I have an overactive imagination. It's always been that way, really. And when I'm bored I have a tendency to daydream and drift off into my own little world that's full of stories I've created since I was a child. I always go back to them and build on them. I don't really have any interest in writing them down...that's just way too much effort. But sometimes I just get so into the story that I start to talk without realizing it and the stories spill from my world into the real world. It's...sort of embarrassing when people overhear me. It's hard to explain." She twirled the ends of her hair as she spoke, taking a deep breath. "So...yeah. I was...uhm...talking...to myself I suppose."

She knew there was a blush coming across her cheeks as she took a deep breath to calm her thoughts. All she could think at the moment was "what if she thinks I'm crazy and then she tells Scar and I'm forced to leave the carnival and go back home? I can't do that...I can't go home..." She made sure to watch herself and not speak what she was thinking, but her mind was in overdrive and of course she let slip her fear. "...please don't tell Scar...I promise, I'm not crazy..."

Introductory || Alice + Naveen

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“Ugh, I’ve had enough of this for one day,” Naveen mumbled under his breath, groaning in complaint. It had been days in this train and he felt like his bum had numbed from too much sitting and doing nothing. He was getting restless and he needed something to get his mind off of something. Deciding he needed some air, he grabbed his ukulele from the inside of his car and started strumming a soft rhythm and strolled to the balcony slowly. Closing the door behind him, he stopped playing once he perceived soft humming not far from where he was situated.

He closed his eyes, feeling relaxed after what seemed like weeks as the breeze enveloped him in a cool embrace and continued listening to the chugging of the train against the train tracks, the whistle of the steam engine and the anonymous person’s humming.

It was then when a voice of a young girl started narrating a story, which probably came from her wild and creative imagination. He couldn’t help but think this was not only a fiction made up from her, but a dream she would like to live someday. He frowned when he realized that she discontinue her colourful and vivid tale, finally opening his lobes and tried adjusting to the lighting reflected from the rays of the sun. He flicked his gaze to a lass who greeted him and noticed a faint colour of red on her cheeks, probably embarrassed at the awareness that he heard her.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he answered her softly with a faint smile, pushing his build off of the metal walls of the train’s back door and walked towards her, who had now stood up from her previous state and was composing herself. “My name’s Naveen. Nice story you’ve got there.”