Story Notes: I saw Scratchmeout's manip for this event and knew, straight away, I wanted to write something for it. I'm a huge fan of all things carnivalesque, despite never having been to a quintessential 'merican carny! I wanna go! I took her suggestion and Mr Gordo does make an appearance... (I hope she likes the easter egg I left for her wink wink). 
I am indebted to Marinaeualia and Gabby for their invaluable beta-ing. They both have made this story infinitely better and any imperfections are because I either ignored their advice or fiddled with things after they had finished. This story is also way longer than I had intended, but I'm owning it. 
I feel a little bit like I'm blowing my own trumpet selecting 'comedy' as the genre for this. Please know that I did so while cringing at myself.