OPEN MINGLE | County Fair Fun

[kid_flash_found]

Who: general mingle
What: Little Love County Fair!
When: Throughout September
Where: Little Love, Kansas
Content Warnings: Animals, animal waste products, deep fried everything, crooked fair games, animals used for food.



Little Love is one of those places that allows you to forget all the hustle and bustle of city life. Except there's a fair bit of hustle of a different kind at the county fair. This is one of the big events of the year, and everyone is keen to show off the fruits of their hard labor. Animal shows and produce exhibits take center stage as people show off their attempt at the season's biggest and best.

Local artisans have crafts of every kind up for display and sale, as well as entered in attempts to win a blue ribbon. Did you want to purchase some apple-head dolls, or maybe you prefer the corn husk variety? Both are plentiful and shown with a variety of skill levels. The local wool and fiber guild has a lovely petting zoo and spinning workshop set up, complete with hands-on learning for anyone who stops by. Or maybe you're more interested in the groups demonstrating and selling tools to churn your own butter, make your own cheese, or even brew your own alcohol of various kinds. Homemade and handmade are the keys to a unique and enriched life, after all.

And of course there is entertainment. In the evening, a whole bunch of live artists take their turns entertaining, with headliners showing up for the weekends and smaller local talent during the less prized weekday slots. And while there's only a simple ferris wheel and some kiddie attractions for rides, one could spend time getting lost in the Maze of Mirrors or the Tunnel of Love. Most of the daytime fun is in the midway, which is expansive and full of people promising that everyone's a winner, although the number of people actually lugging around the giant plush toys is about what you'd expect.

You can't forget the food, either. Sweet, savory, and everything in between. Kettle Korn, sweet grilled corn, meats of every kind grilled to order and put on a bun for your enjoyment send up enticing smells everywhere you look. The cotton candy vendors are serving up a brisk trade, with some specializing in unique flavors of spun sugar and others just winding up clouds of colorful, fluffy sweetness. The deep friers can't be forgotten. If you can put in on a stick and coat it, they're serving it deep fried. Ice cream, butter, snack cakes of every variety take their place alongside the more prosaic corndogs and funnel cakes. There's something for everyone! Well, as long as you aren't counting your calories. Good luck finding a nice salad amongst all the fatty deliciousness.

When the judging is done, there's always time to hit up the auction block, as the 4H kids and other folks put up their livestock for sale. If you're looking for some new friends, you might be able to get them cheap, as long as you're in the market for hoofstock or domesticated fowl. There might even be some lovely peafowl up if you're looking for a little color on your farm and don't mind the noise. Surely everyone could use a few goats or chickens, or a nice yearling steer to fatten up? But you don't have to decide now, unless you actually win that lot.



[OOC: A mingle for all those who want to spend time at the fair. There aren't many rides, but animals are everywhere in every variety, and all the usual fair staples are present. Feel free to add specifics if you want.]

Comments

[exasperation]

Then they could give us a little more light! Even mood lighting!

[frenchkissed]

( what a wonderful suggestion, ripley. with a click, the lights click on in pink and red, and eddie half expects a disco ball to fall from the ceiling. )

I hate it here.

[exasperation]

Sorry. This is my fault isn't it.

[frenchkissed]

It's your fault that my kids are living out the plot to every 2000s family movie ever?

[exasperation]

Yes? No. No.

Maybe? I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing.

[frenchkissed]

No. Yeah.

Right now, you're sitting in a boat in the middle of a funhouse attraction, I think...

You don't gotta do anything.

[exasperation]

You don't want to get out? I can get you out.

[ ripley will be stuck here, but at least he won't be dying inside. ]

[frenchkissed]

Yeah, I know, but that means leaving you behind, right?

[exasperation]

Sure, but you'd be out and happier and that's better. People being happy is always better. I'll be fine.

[frenchkissed]

I wouldn't be happier knowing you're trapped alone in a love tunnel? I'd be way, way less happy than I am right now.

[exasperation]

Oh. . . . Really?

[frenchkissed]

Yeah. Totally.

Absolutely more happy here than I would be, I dunno, wherever you feel like sending me.

[exasperation]

[ and that, ripley realizes, says a lot about where they are at the moment. that it's not hopeless or weird. that it's nice and even . . . right. as right as anything can be.

he reaches for eddie's hand. ]

[frenchkissed]

( thank you, bill withers, for this moment.

eddie almost doesn't notice, but a nudge from venom helps. venom, who's been weirdly quiet this entire time, but eddie appreciates not having to wrestle with his alien on top of... whatever this is.

he takes ripley's hand. )

[exasperation]

. . . Thanks. For, uhm, sticking it out with me. And all the other stuff too.

You're. You're great, you know that? Both of you.

[frenchkissed]

You don't have to thank us for that, man. We just like being around you, y'know? We just like you. I... like you.

( venom likes ripley well enough, but it's different. it feels like a distinction should be made. )

You've always been really cool. Not cool as in, like, cool, but cool like... like cool.

( award winning writer, eddie brock. )

[exasperation]

[ ripley clears his throat, trying to go for smooth. sounds more like he has a cough, but whatever. ]

I, uhm, like you too. A lot.

[frenchkissed]

Yeah?

....

I'm glad we got on this dumb ride.

[exasperation]

Me too.

But we don't need to let the kids know that.

[frenchkissed]

Yeah, no..

You think they'll let us out now?

[exasperation]

Maybe you could send them a text?

[frenchkissed]

Yeah… why didn’t we start with that?

( he’s a well-trained millennial who can text with one hand. )

[exasperation]

[ ripley peeks over his shoulder to glance at the text. ]

Do you think that'll help?

[frenchkissed]

Uh, yeah. Not sure if the Disney gif really helped to convey the tone, but.

meanwhile, muffled noises from the control room

[codicies]

shit shit how do i make it start again