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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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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"I suppose I technically broke into Norrell's house after our last conversation in England. I definitely broke one of his windows." Strange doesn't really seem ashamed or embarrassed by that confession but hey, if the breaking and entering shoe fits. It's told in a very sort of 'what can you do' tone, as he gives Childermass a small shrug.
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If Lascelles were to be the one who told him about Norrell's campaign to ruin his book, then Strange's reaction would be even worse than it was already.
"I still don't know much about the gossip in England these days--Venice isn't entirely brimming with English newspapers and my Italian is rudimentary at best." So while he's certain the news of him fleeing prison is widely known, he's not entirely sure how many people know why he was arrested in the first place.