what's cooler than being cool? ice cold

[kingsroads]

Who: everyone!
What: hey wait a minute, why's it suddenly cold oh for fuck's sake Strange...
Where: the carnival + Alola
When: all of day 76!
Warnings: none, will edit if needed

the Carnival
Surprise, it's now winter.

Starting from the early hours of day 76, the Carnival is covered in snow, the temperature rapidly dropping from 'nice' to 'freezing.' Patterns of frost cover everything and icicles dangle from most buildings. Try to be careful as you're walking around, patches of the ground are frozen over and incredibly slick. Nobody be that dumbass who tries to stick their tongue to the ferris wheel, you're just going to regret it later. Enjoy the fact that almost anything that used to be a liquid is now frozen solid. All in all, it's like someone flipped a switch from summer to winter--there was absolutely no sign something like this would happen in the first place. Why not ask around to see what's up? Or, just enjoy the change of weather and pelt your friend in the face with a snowball, that's also an option. The Carnival re-enacting the plot of Frozen lasts all day, though things finally start to melt and/or magically vanish once dusk settles.

For all you vampires who've slept through most of this, the effects of winter still linger a bit after the faerie's vanished, though in slowly diminishing form. The temperature's a bit warmer and some of the liquids have started to melt, but it's still a bit uncomfortable. It's hard to clean up an entire magical wintery hellscape by yourself, okay?

Alola
Due to the way the Carnival drops people in Alola, it's entirely possible to miss the fact that something weird's going on at the Carnival. Still, some of the winter wonderland manages to seep it's way into the tropical paradise. For most people, the changes are noticeable but easily dealt with. The temperature drops to something more chilly but not downright freezing. Occasionally there are small flurries of snow, but they'll end up melting fairly quickly. Locals are downright confused, mentioning that really, it shouldn't be this cold, this weather is weirdly unseasonable.

Also, what's that weird little ice fox that keeps showing up? More and more ice Pokemon feel a little bit braver thanks to the cold temperatures and are willing to venture out into areas that ice Pokemon might not normally live in. Go train all your fire cats by having them beat up the sentient ice cream cones, everybody.

( ooc: here is the relevant ooc post! This is an open mingle-style log, so feel free to create your own threads, tag around & have some fun! )

Comments

Jonathan Strange | all throughout the carnival

[kingsroads]

closed prompt for the actual summoning
Strange had picked this time for a specific reason: the less people in the Carnival, the less people to bother him or try to stop him. Alola was serving as a wonderful distraction from what he was planning to do. That potion he had picked up in Atlantis was supposed to grant one's darkest desire. Well, that was easy enough for Strange to identify. He wanted to find his wife and rescue her. That involved summoning the faerie who had kidnapped her, remarkably imprecise magic to begin with, and...he hadn't planned that part out yet, possibly threatening the faerie? He'd work on it as they got there.

So naturally he just chugged the entirety of the potion in one gulp. Somebody needs to have a talk with Strange about 'don't put things in your mouth that you don't know where they've been.' Still, once it was drunk, he could feel the power granted by the potion flow through his body. Of course he could do this. He was one of the greatest magicians of the age, he would certainly summon that faerie and save his wife! Muttering under his breath, he lit the candle and cast the summoning spell. Almost instantly there's a chill in the air as the faerie is summoned.

Giving the other man a small nod, Strange started up the conversation. "I'm sure you're wondering why I summoned you here. My name is Jonathan Strange and I wish to discuss terms of the release of an English woman from your realm."

It doesn't really occur to him that with the imprecise magic he used, he might have summoned the wrong faerie in the first place.

open prompt! scavenger hunt time
In retrospect, he probably should have paid more attention to that little lecture about realms and dimensions and whatever that the Ringmaster gave him a few weeks ago. Whoops. Because this was obviously not the faerie he was looking for--a fact that's just a massive blow to Strange's pride. He should have been able to do this! Why on Earth did it fail?

And now here he is, charged with cleaning up the mess, which would have been easier had he not mentioned the whole 'your presence here is tied to the candle' thing to begin with. Great job, dummy. Strange storms around the Carnival, occasionally casting spells, occasionally just lifting things up to look underneath them. He's obviously trying to find something (the candle used in the summons) but is coming up with nothing, a fact that's intensely aggravating.

There's something different about Strange, and not just because his hair's returned to it's wild state. He seems more on edge, more willing to snap at people and just grumpy. It's an odd change for the magician who, at least for the past few days, had seemed genuinely excited and happy about things for once.

So sorry random carnival worker, you're getting a side of grumpy Strange today as he points to you and walks right up. "You there! Have you seen a lit candle sitting around any where? He's obviously cloaked it from me but I've no idea if he's thought to cloak it from everyone."

the summoning

[npcarnival]

This faerie might not be at all what Strange was expecting - instead of any form fitting to the title 'the Gentleman', this creature is about four feet tall, with long white hair and wings apparently made out of some kind of flexible crystalline ice. They are also almost entirely naked, except for what amounts to a glittery loincloth.

They appear extremely surprised when they appear, as if they had been relaxing only the moment before. They flex their wings, floating up into the air, looking around with alarm, and then curiosity.

"Well, excuse me," they say, putting their hands on their hips. "You're going to have to be more specific."

[kingsroads]

Strange isn't a prude, per se. But he's dealt with two faeries in his life and neither of them were practically naked, so his eyes bug out a little in confusion before order is quickly restored and that facade of him knowing exactly what he's doing creeps back into place. He's got this, he can do it.

"An English woman by the name of Arabella Strange. You have kidnapped her and are holding her captive in your realm. I am giving you the opportunity to free her from captivity of your own free will. If you don't, I shall free her myself by any means necessary."

It's all said in a very matter of fact tone as he looks at the faerie with something akin to loathing in his eyes.

hey there strange buddy ya need some help

[atouts]

Normally, there's a pretty high chance Strange may have changed directions and backpedaled away from this particular carnival worker — or maybe not, considering he kind of needs all the help he can get, who knows — but considering Childermass has more or less given up on trying to maintain the gloomy, overdressed, wearing all black in a tropical location aesthetic, a mistake isn't too hard to make. Honestly, who would ever expect Childermass to be wearing an Alolan shirt or anything generally colorful at all?

But he is. That and linen slacks, though he's absolutely grateful he stuck to much more substantial footwear when he came back to a carnival covered in snow. Not that the cold seems to bother him much, even in clothing not at all meant for it. It helps that there's a short, fire-red and black tiger-striped dog busy shoving his face through the snow around them, causing it to melt more often than not.

Anyway, back to Strange walking up and asking about a candle. Good timing, because Childermass was just about to go looking for him! Considering the headache this place was giving him, he already knew from the get go this wasn't the Ringermaster's faerie magic. He turns, giving the other magician a very carefully maintained cool look, since he doubts grabbing Strange and demanding to know what he did isn't going to get them anywhere.

"A candle?" Well, that sure explains a whole lot in a heartbeat. "What in the world did you summon?"

his bad. :<

[kingsroads]

Surely that person in the purple shirt couldn't be Childermass? Except as Strange actually look at the man's face, he realizes oh no, it is Childermass. How wonderful. That irritation is just all the more apparent as Childermass's carefully maintained cool look is just instantly contrasted with Strange's annoyed grimace. And it's not like he can flee the conversation now, not after Childermass has already asked him about the faerie.

This is awful. He would have avoided this conversation if he could, as the likelihood that someone will end up shouting at someone else is far too high. But even in this situation, Strange knows he can't turn down the other magician's help. So, bracing himself for yet another argument, he continues.

"I attempted to summon the faerie who kidnapped Arabella," said as calmly as possible, trying to hide his irritation and annoyance with the whole scenario. He knows that the likelihood he'll get a lecture about that is fairly high. How could you be so stupid, why would you do something like that, think about the timeline, blah blah blah. Hopefully that glare that Strange is giving Childermass will put the man off any lectures. He know he messed up, alright? He doesn't need other people pointing it out. "I summoned the wrong one."

It's at this moment that Strange notices Growlithe for the first time and wait a moment what the hell is that. He's briefly distracted as looks down at the dog. Childermass has one of those Pokemon things now? How unexpected.

[whattaprick]

The carnival worker Strange has chosen to accost on this particular instance, alas, is in less than a helpful mood. Lambert flips the blanket back from where he's draped it over his head (when your horns are literally made of gold, you don't care how stupid you look, you just want to keep your head warm) and shoulders to scowl at Strange. Under it, he's still wearing his Alolan outfit -- he had zero intention of staying any longer than it took to check on his garden, then fuck off back to the islands -- but with these interruptions, that's plan looking less and less likely.

"Why the fuck would I--" The rest of Strange's words hit him then, and he just stares at him incredulously. "Wait, do you have something to do with this shit?"

[kingsroads]

Unlike him accidentally bothering Childermass, Lambert was someone Strange purposefully chose to bother. Surely a Witcher would have experience in tracking a magical creature. Surely Lambert could be helpful with regards to him fixing this mess. And yet there he was, asking him stupid questions about if he has something to do with this or not? Strange frowned at Lambert before rolling his eyes. Of course he had something to do with this, why would he be asking the man for help if he didn't have something to do with this?

"Are you going to stand there like an idiot or are you going to help me?"

It's not really an answer but at the same time, it definitely is. Sorry your bud's temporarily taken a level in jerkass, Lambert.

[pipers_son]

And then suddenly everything made sense.

Joker just wanted to nip by the cookhouse for something to tide him over for the night before he heads out into Alola again, on account that most places at this particular stop don't take into consideration certain.... needs. However, it looks like he's being interrogated instead, and the man gives a pause, quirking up an eyebrow. Up in the air, something small and fat is flapping about, and starts to circle down when it realizes Joker has stopped moving.

"Can't say that I have," he says simply, since it's true. "Care ta tell me who's been botherin' ya, Strange?"

[kingsroads]

More than anyone else here, Joker gives him pause. Joker's his supervisor. If anyone deserves to know the full story of why everything's cold in the first place, it's him. But that doesn't mean he actually WANTS to tell Joker the full story. "It's nothing," Strange responds, oddly evasive. "I have everything under control."

Ha ha no he doesn't. But Strange's lack of an attention span strikes again as he pauses to look at the small fat flapping thing. His lack of Pokemon knowledge also strikes again because he has not opened the Pokedex once during this trip and, as such, has no friggen clue what a Rowlett is.

"You have a bird now?"

/shows up to the scavenger hunt two weeks late with starbucks

[destiny_key]

This guy is nothing if not a little frightening in his mannerisms, but Sora can safely say he's pretty tame in comparison to some of the things he's seen. Hell, Sora's a vampire right now, he's probably the scarier of the two, despite Strange easily being a foot taller.

Either way, he moves the umbrella to shield himself from the sun better when he comes up to him, and looks at Strange, confused.

"A... candle?" Sora repeats slowly. "Cloaked... what? I don't get it. Did you lose something?"

hey now showing up still counts mmkay?

[kingsroads]

"I didn't lose it, that fiend stole it from me." This provides absolutely no context whatsoever, but Strange is glowering like this is a huge crime and OBVIOUSLY Sora should be empathizing with him about this. He turns back to Sora, as if to say something...before noticing the umbrella. Ah. He's probably still a vampire.

"I can make it more cloudy, if you wish." It's just said completely out of nowhere, but Strange at least gestures to the umbrella for explanation. Granted, he wouldn't be able to remove the sun entirely, but a little more cloud cover might be good for the kid.

Ash | Carnival

[amusicaladventure]

Alola was beautiful. Warm sun, golden sand, sea breezes -- it was a downright tropical paradise, one that Ash was enjoying thoroughly. Coming back to the carnival, though...

"W-w-w-w-whyyyyyyyyy?" the catgirl demanded through chattering teeth, her arms wrapped around herself to try to salvage every last drop of body heat as it leeched out way too much bare skin for the conditions. Shorts and a tank-top suited Alola perfectly and this not at all.

Ash broke into a run for the trailers, flip-flops slapping noisily against her heels as she sprinted forward. Someone stop her before she hit the patch of ice she hadn't noticed...

[sunflowerfields]

"Whoops, careful there!" Ash will find herself being spun around, and will also find a blanket suddenly draped across her shoulders. "It's a little slippery! Hmm, why don't we go get you some thicker shoes?"

[amusicaladventure]

Ash made the sort of startled little meowelp that one would expect from a housecat that had suddenly been picked up without warning. "Back in my trailer," she said, all shivers as she tugged the blanket around her. "The hell's going on?"

[pipers_son]

"Strange!" is the casual response she gets from a passing by Joker- funnily enough, going out right as Ash was coming in. Vampire schedules are like that. Still, he lingers long enough, head turning to follow her, to make sure she doesn't go crashing into something. Or on ice.

[amusicaladventure]

Just as he turned she DID slip on ice, arms windmilling for a second before she grabbed onto the side of a tent nearby for support. She clung to it for a moment, the fabric dimpled around her claws where it had dug in.

"Awww, my flip-flops," she said plaintively, looking down at them. The claws on her toes had stabbed clean through them when she'd reflexively popped them out for traction.

lambert, and ota!

[whattaprick]

[ CARNIVAL ]

Lambert really, really hadn't wanted to come back here. It proves to be a particularly terrible idea because the moment he steps back through to the carnival and he ends up somehow in the one patch of snow that's shin-deep.

For the record: bare legs and snow don't go well together. A sentiment Lambert proceeds to express at the top of his lungs with a loud, hollered--

"FUCK!"

--that announces his return. However, he's here with a purpose, which means despite having to clench his teeth against chattering, he's forcing himself to move through the snow and navigate the ice to the lakeside. That does involve having to get through the trailers, though, so anyone who isn't holed up inside (and even those who are) might catch a constant stream of quiet bitching as a horned man in quickly-soggy floral shorts and a tank top slogs through the slush and tries not to slip through ice, trailed by a curious-looking donkey-creature that doesn't seem nearly as bothered by the temperature.

[ ALOLA ]

Once he's satisfied himself that all the snow and ice is nothing more than a spell gone awry and doesn't need anything killed to fix it, Lambert is fucking right back to Alola, good luck everyone else. However, he can't quite shake the chill from his bones.

Clearly, the solution is to warm up. So this means he's dug a pit on one of Alola's beaches, dragged in stray driftwood, and set the whole thing on fire. So yeah, Lambert's right beside a bonfire that is definitely breaking ten different kinds of safety regulation, exhaling in relief as he drops down on the sand next to it.

"That's better."

Carnival

[sunflowerfields]

"Language!" Hinawa says in a sing-songy voice as she rounds the corner with blankets in her arms. "Here, this will get you to your trailer so you can change your clothes."

Then she spots the donkey. "Would your little friend like one, too?"

[whattaprick]

Who or what would ever care about Lambert's potty mouth in the Carnival? At least one person, apparently, and it's enough of a surprise that he can't do much more than dumbly accept a blanket, throwing it around his shoulders.

"I think Pig's fine." Pig being the Mudbray, who has ... perked up noticeably with another person present. It snuffles closer to Hinawa out of curiosity.

Alola

[thevictoriandetective]

Quite suddenly and without warning, there's a person nestled on the far side of the bonfire, having quite quickly carved out a nice little pit to lay in and read a book. He seems to have either not noticed Lambert, or most likely not cared to ask if he could stay.

His coat, scarf, and other clothes are piled up in a soggy mess near the fire as well, as a tiny dog-like pokemon, a Rockruff, curls on on Sherlock's bare chest. He slipped a bit on the wet scales--someone had obviously pelted the detective with a few snowballs. Slightly obnoxious brightly colored swimshorts completed his ensemble, his pants cast off a few feet away.

Carnival

[amusicaladventure]

"You ain't k-k-k-kidding."

You think you have trouble, Lambert? Ash dressed for a day on the beach, which Alola seemed to mostly consist of -- so her shorts are even shorter, and she's wearing flip-flops. The poor girl was so wracked by shivering she had to struggle to form words.

"We-we gotta get somewhere warm..."

[pipers_son]

Oh, good, something actually happening at night for once. The light is enough to draw Joker's attention, a moth to a flame, and he doesn't bother to hide his footsteps much as he comes walking along. That doesn't mean it's still not a little difficult to notice him, but.... Vampire instincts. What can you do?

"Not carin' for the carnival, or just interested in roughin' it out for the night?" he offers lazily as he steps into the firelight.

The Carnival!

[empty_vessel]

This should probably be a cause for concern. Under other circumstances, 'Scorching hot summer' to 'Multiple inches of snow on the ground' should at least raise eyebrows and possibly a surge of hits to the FAA website for what the weather's supposed to be. Except Jimmy's in a reality hopping, faerie enchanted Carnival, and he's going to enjoy himself.

Even if Castiel is here, Jimmy refuses to sit in the corner and worry himself to death about what the angel is up to. So seeing that it's snowed has him up and about in surprisingly light clothes for the temperature (jacket, jeans and boots), and is off to the kitchens, Sweet Pea bouncing after once she figures out that snow is Harmless, but Not To Be Trusted.

[thevictoriandetective]

Sherlock is not pleased.

Fortunately, he was able to get to the trailer before snow actually started falling, and he'd bundled up by wearing several layers of clothes, his scarf, and his coat, and a couple bottles of boiled hot water wrapped up inside said coat.

He'd been meaning to walk right back to Alola, but it was such a slog through the snow, he had to take a breather inside the kitchen. And load up on some coffee, because the cold just made him sleepy. He'd never really hated snow before, but now he wanted to smack whoever was responsible for this fluffy nonsense.

So there was a muttering, angry green figure under a heavy coat, a beanie stolen from somewhere (or someone), and his scarf covering his entire face, sipping a jumbo-sized cup of coffee in between the folds. Toby, his rockruff, was happily inside his coat, his tiny face peeking out from between his buttons.

[kingsroads]

It's as Jimmy's on his way to the kitchen that Strange spots him and just instantly makes a beeline towards Jimmy. Wonderful! Someone else he can help yank into this candle search nonsense. As he approaches Jimmy, Strange gives him a tight grin. Strange certainly looks like he's seen better days—he's still wearing his Alola clothes but there's a definite air of madness and tenseness that hangs around him.

"Mister Novak! Might I be able to spare you for a moment, I've a favor to ask."

Don't worry, the favor is literally going to be 'keep an eye out for the stupid candle.'