john childermass (
atouts) wrote in
lostcarnival2017-05-13 08:17 pm
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Entry tags:
I would have picked a quote about shadows [OPEN]
Who: Childermass & open.
What: Having finally gotten his shadow teleport spell to work, Childermass is trying to iron out just how to control the damn thing...
When: During the Mainframe stop, before Performance week.
Where: Around the carnival.
Warnings: n/a
i. all around the carnival
It's a whole lot of trial and error, it seems, this shadow magic, but at least Childermass doesn't anticipate ending up anywhere deadly as he goes from shadow to shadow, place to place. He's found early and late in the day works best, when the sun is forcing shadows to cast at an angle. Night time only deepens and darkens the entire world, which, in theory, you might expect to make it the easiest time of all, but there is such a thing as too many doors...
So, during these days before the carnival opens, it won't be uncommon to suddenly find a tall, somewhat dour-looking (exciting as messing around with magic like this is, he just isn't the sort to let on to that easily) Englishman abruptly existing where there hadn't been an Englishman — or anyone at all, for that matter — before! Look fast enough and you'll catch him moving like he's just stepped out of somewhere, though there's usually nothing but shadows and whatever is casting them behind him.
This could be inside buildings, the cookhouse, the Big Top, all around the forest—
ii. or in your trailer, any trailer at all
Or accidentally shadow-stepping straight into the closet in your trailer or maybe even the bathroom, if the lights been left off in there by some chance. There'll be a THUMP of Childermass walking directly into something — a broom, the shower curtain, whatever it is — and then a muttered curse of, "Oh, damn it. Not again."
And here he thought he was going to be better about this than Strange was...
What: Having finally gotten his shadow teleport spell to work, Childermass is trying to iron out just how to control the damn thing...
When: During the Mainframe stop, before Performance week.
Where: Around the carnival.
Warnings: n/a
i. all around the carnival
It's a whole lot of trial and error, it seems, this shadow magic, but at least Childermass doesn't anticipate ending up anywhere deadly as he goes from shadow to shadow, place to place. He's found early and late in the day works best, when the sun is forcing shadows to cast at an angle. Night time only deepens and darkens the entire world, which, in theory, you might expect to make it the easiest time of all, but there is such a thing as too many doors...
So, during these days before the carnival opens, it won't be uncommon to suddenly find a tall, somewhat dour-looking (exciting as messing around with magic like this is, he just isn't the sort to let on to that easily) Englishman abruptly existing where there hadn't been an Englishman — or anyone at all, for that matter — before! Look fast enough and you'll catch him moving like he's just stepped out of somewhere, though there's usually nothing but shadows and whatever is casting them behind him.
This could be inside buildings, the cookhouse, the Big Top, all around the forest—
ii. or in your trailer, any trailer at all
Or accidentally shadow-stepping straight into the closet in your trailer or maybe even the bathroom, if the lights been left off in there by some chance. There'll be a THUMP of Childermass walking directly into something — a broom, the shower curtain, whatever it is — and then a muttered curse of, "Oh, damn it. Not again."
And here he thought he was going to be better about this than Strange was...
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"My writings would be even better if you showed me how you did it—with me watching this time, of course." He's trying his hardest to sound grumpy and to sound annoyed. After all, Childermass just messed with him for seemingly no reason. Logically, he should still be put out. But a little hint of wonder creeps into Strange's tone. If Childermass has managed to figure out some teleportation magic of his own, then of course Strange wants to see the results for himself.
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"I can certainly do that," he'll at least give Strange that much. The trick is that he only asked to be shown it, it never mentioned anything about coming back afterward. So this time when he steps back into the shadows of the trailer, gathering them around him not unlike how his original trick with shadows before had worked, he'll vanish off to who knows where else in the carnival and he won't be back, at least not in the trailer.
Where he does end up is in the Big Top, emerging out of a shadowy corner near where he knows at least one mirror prop is kept for the sake of fairness. It wouldn't be any fun if he went somewhere that Strange couldn't follow.
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He still looks unkempt as hell, but at least he's trying to look decent. Thankfully, Childermass has to wait for less than five minutes before Strange appears out of the mirror, complaining mostly for the sake of complaining. "First you wake me up, then you lead me on a chase?"
Still, the magic was impressive. And, now that he's seen the trick, Strange isn't so petty as to not acknowledge when someone's performed impressive magic--almost as impressive as the sort he performs on a regular basis! "I hate to admit it but your shadows are probably more practical than my mirrors. After all, there's always light."
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"Oh? Are you not having fun?" Childermass, being a huge jerk. Just as planned. He will relent, however, upon Strange admitting shadows are, in fact, much better. He'll let a faint smile turn up a corner of his lips at that. "Been working on it for awhile, but I only had real success recently. It's a bit of a cross between how the Roads seem to work and how the Warden and Joker do their own teleportation."
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"It's a pity I can't access the Roads while in the Carnival—I'd take you there myself and you can fine-tune the spell that way!" Strange can't help but give Childermass a small 'what can you do about it' sort of shrug. Because really, what could he do about it? Nothing in the slightest. "We'll simply have to visit them after I've sorted everything out back home."
Because obviously he will sort everything out back home, Strange is still blissfully unaware of that whole 'surprise you're stuck in the black tower' nonsense.
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"If you say so, Mr. Strange," is the safest answer as ever. "Though the Roads themselves did not give me as much of the idea as how you used to get to them did and how you get around even now. There's nothing but darkness between shadows, certainly no roads, but I can go from one to the other, not unlike you do your mirrors."
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"Truth be told, I've only the slightest idea of how I get around now to begin with," said in a very matter of fact tone as if that's not slightly worrying. "By all accounts and purposes, the spell shouldn't have worked here." He cast the spell to enter the Roads through the mirrors, not go from mirror to mirror. Perhaps the Carnival simply cut out the middleman? Magic adapting to work and to fill in the gaps of the spell. They are in a realm full of magic, after all, it only makes sense.
"Of course, I've adjusted the spell since then. There's no use casting a spell with superfluous elements, after all. But most of my adjustments are based on some of the principles of reflection used in scrying magic--which I hardly think will help your shadows." SHRUGS. Sorry Childermass, he's not going to be much help.
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As if to prove that point, he vanishes into the shadows yet again. Another reason he chose the Big Top to appear in, that after hours when it's not in use, it's not exactly the most well-illuminated of places. No spotlights and such on when they aren't performing and all. Thankfully, he doesn't go far this time. When he reappears, it's only ten or so seconds later and he's stepping out from behind the mirror Strange had used. Simple as that.
"Though I've found it works best if I've seen the place I'm going before. Trying to use only a general concept of where I want to end up has led to a few..." Well. He may as well admit it. "Unfortunate instances."
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But unfortunate instances? Now that's worth talking about!
"Go on," Strange remarks, with a wry little smirk. "You can't say something like that and leave it there."
He says, knowing full well that Childermass will probably just leave it there to begin with. After all, why would he willingly describe a goof-up to Strange? Might want to sweeten the pot a little. "I'll tell you an unfortunate instance of mine in return."
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And so, while he does roll his eyes, Childermass does, after a moment of considering it, does say, "Oh, fine. I imagine the one you will find the funniest is that I now know more than I care to about our witcher friend's bathing habits. He showers with the lights off."
Which is still so damn stupid, he can't even believe it.
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"That makes no sense! Surely he knows he's liable to trip over something that way!"
Apparently this is the point that confuses the magicians more than anything else: showering in the dark. He can't imagine what sort of chaos emerged once Childermass accidentally walked into Lambert showering but really, if he was showering in the dark, then he deserved whatever nonsense happened afterwards (of course, most people probably don't expect others to wander in their shower to begin with, but details, details).
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So, since that's all the story Strange is getting, he nods towards the other magician, raising an eyebrow. Cleary, that means it's his turn.
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Still, it's his turn to describe one of his unfortunate instances, so Strange sits down on a prop box, mulling things over as he does so as he decides what to say...and, most importantly, what could best shock Childermass.
"Back on our world, I put a dead mouse in my mouth to help become mad." It's said as if that's a perfectly normal thing to happen! And it's just said so bluntly and so up-front that Strange knows Childermass might want to at least pry a little bit more about this.
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"Something from the lady you turned into a cat, I imagine," he says to that, recalling mention of it from way, way back, closer to when Strange first arrived at the carnival. "Or are the two somehow unrelated?"
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"The two are related. The poor woman was completely out of her mind. I gave her her heart's desire, being a cat, in exchange for a vessel of her madness, the mouse she was about to eat. I had attempted to consume the..." well he can't say 'mouse corpse', can he "...the, ah, vessel then and there. I put it in my mouth, found it to be far too potent, and then brewed it down to a more manageable tonic."
He gives Childermass a little shrug, before the slight teasing returns. "I'd be happy to repeat the process as a demonstration, if you wish. We simply need to find someone else who's mad." Because it sure as hell won't be Strange casting that sort of spell on himself.
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A lot more. Also, the Ringmaster might not like the whole 'her workers being turned into things' when it isn't her own magic doing all the turning. You know, just a little.
"I also ended up in one of the pantry of the cookhouse," he says after a beat, taking it as his own turn to offer another location he ended up while practicing. "Not as disastrous as someone's shower, but it did surprise them."
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Still though, the pantry. That's another points to shadows. The nearest mirror to the kitchen is actually the one in one of the bathrooms, there's not really an actual mirror in the kitchen proper. "At least with the pantry, you could have gotten a snack after you arrived," says the person who straight up steals food from the cookhouse more often than visiting the cookhouse itself.
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"If someone hadn't opened the door on me, I suppose," Childermass adds with a slight shrug of only one shoulder this time. "I think I may stick to doing that the old-fashioned way. Seems fairer if the cook's staff has a chance to shake ladles and chase me off."
Like it's all just a boyish prank, sneaking food without asking. He honestly wouldn't qualify it as stealing, considering they already work for the carnival, but it's true that not everyone's been happy finding him in the kitchen.
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And then he realizes that no, there's no damn way Childermass would do that favor in the first place, and the idea is quickly crushed.
"Seems fairer? Isn't stealing food unfair by default? Why on Earth would you make it fairer?" It's an honest question the way Strange asks it. Oh, sneaking food might have started off as a fun challenge for him, but it's slowly morphed into the natural result of Strange's inability to keep proper mealtimes. He's hungry, there's a kitchen, ergo he will take some food.
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"Ah, but is it stealing? It's the carnival's food, we're a part of the carnival," he puts words to his previous thought, pointing that out. "I don't see much reason to be terribly sneaky when the worst they can do is tell me to get out."
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"It's the same reason why I rarely ask Joker for things, I simply take them out of the supply closet myself without anyone noticing. It's a challenge!"
It's pretty obvious that if they ever run out of certain supplies, it will most likely be Strange's fault.
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"Well, it's in the middle of the lake now. You may want to just leave it be."
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There's a pause, before he continues. "I'm afraid we got off topic. Is it my turn to tell you something embarrassing or yours?"
Of course, 'I ended up in this location I didn't mean to while practicing magic' isn't all that embarrassing in the grand scheme of things. Still, this is Childermass, the likelihood that he would admit something actually embarrassing and not mildly inconvenient is slim to none.
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