lostcarnival | ⇨ WISMUTH

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⇨ WISMUTH

Who: Everyone!
When: S2:D6-D11
Where: Wismuth and the Carnival Grounds
What: The carnival enjoys a few days in Wismuth, a coastal city on this planet's version of the American east. However, there are a few things very unique about this version of the planet...
Warnings: The usual, wholesome fun.

PILLAR OF CREATION↴

Upon arriving, things in Wismuth will seem pretty peaceful. It's a massive city, with no shortage of things going on, but things like violent crime and homelessness are at an all time low. You can wander the streets without much scrutiny, presumed to just be tourists, and most people here come across as helpful and friendly.

► VIBRANCY: The main thing that sets this planet apart is its vibrancy - AKA, the raw creative energy its filled with, flowing from its status as a Pillar of Creation. There is no literal pillar, but Wismuth and its planet is a place where Creation's energy comes through strongest. As a result, everything here feels somehow more real, more intense in a way that's hard to put a finger on. Life is abundant, and its bleeds through in every sensation.

► ATTRACTIONS: There are plenty of things to see while going around the city. First and foremost, there is a lovely beach area bordering the ocean, and a number of tourist aimed attractions built around it. There are giant malls, movie theaters, live stage performances, museums and all kinds of other points of cultural interest. Anything you can do in a big city you can do here, but better.

► ALLOWANCES: The Ringmaster will be giving everyone a reasonable amount of local currency for a few days on the town. You can't make any massive acquisitions with it, but it's more than enough to eat out, see some shows, go to the beach, and whatever you like. You can feel free to pick up some casual supplies, like mundane clothing and souvenirs. There will be more given out later, after the performance week.

► PERFORMANCE: Performance week is starting early this time, after only a couple days of exploration. When the carnival has already been on vacation for a month, the Ringmaster figures they may as well get right to it, and then do more touring afterwards. Members of the local populace will find themselves in the carnival once performances begin, dazzled by the other worldly sights. Magic doesn't seem to exist here, despite the fact that it will flow easier for people bringing it from other worlds.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She does not cut him off, unfortunately for anyone within earshot of this conversation. "So? Maybe it looks different in this universe," Peridot says, jerking her shoulders and brushing the complaint off impatiently. She's far less inclined to humor Strange's whining after his behavior at the last hole.

"It's the London Bridge," he loudly whines, probably making those in earshot just back away from these two. "It shouldn't look different to begin with! It looked perfectly fine before and worked...well, worked fine enough, but why change it so it's all out of proportion like this is?"

Strange is being needlessly petty about this bridge and continues whining for the sake of whining as he sets his drink down, sets his ball down, and then lines up to take the shot.

Peridot leans heavily on her club, as if Strange's whining is literally sapping the energy from her. She goes back to playing with one of those sticky hands she bought earlier while she waits, fidgeting by pulling it out a little bit and letting it snap back to it's normal length a few times.

"If it's so awful then just take your shot already so we can move on and not have to look at it any longer," she growls with annoyance, lightly spinning the novelty toy around one claw.

Strange sighs dramatically before he leans down and takes the shot. Unfortunately, he didn't hit it hard enough, so the shot stops right in the middle of the bridge. Hmm. This is going to suck.

There's some awkward pauses and shifting around as Strange gets in the middle of the ditch to find a way to hit the ball towards the hole, he takes the shot, lines it up perfectly, takes a pause...and then his club veers to the left in a way that he wasn't expecting, knocking the ball off course.

"That's odd," he complains, as he goes to set himself up to take another shot. "I thought I had it lined up perfectly."

Edited 2018-01-23 02:23 (UTC)

Peridot can't help but snicker the first time he fucks up, her amusement only increasing with each awkward shift he has to make to get at the ball again. Then at his comment, she just snorts, lazily spinning the sticky hand in a slightly wider arc. "Guess you're just not as good at this game as you thought you were," she teases, tail twitching gleefully.

Yeah the toy spinning is a cover for the fact that she is definitely using her metal powers to get back at him by fucking up his swings right now. She'll let him get the next two strokes without issue, just to keep him from getting suspicious, but she's hoping she fucked with him enough that it'll take him at least another two to recover.

It does take him two strokes to recover, meaning that Strange got a solid four strokes on that hole. Okay, ten total, that's not too bad, all he has to do is try to do better next time and try to figure out just what the hell went wrong with that shot.

"I don't have to be top of the class, I just have to be better than you. Which I am." He picks up his drink again, takes a sip (this stuff is amazing) and watches Peridot take her swing. It's entirely possible that Strange is going to run himself right into a caffeine high midway through the course but hey, he doesn't care.

"Three holes is hardly a complete data set, you can't conclusively determine which of us is better at this stupid game based off of that alone!" Peridot fumes, angrily stomping one foot.

It is at this point that they receive their first warning from the staff, as an employee of the Fun Palace pipes up from his nearby post. He's a gangly young man, probably around 17 or 18, sporting a pin at his breast that is shaped like the abstraction of a castle. The pin proudly proclaims to all who read it that it's bearer's name is, in fact, 'Joshua'.

Joshua calls out to Strange: "Sir, I'm going to have to kindly ask that you and your uh..." he pauses, eyes lingering over Peridot, who is glamoured up to look like a very short, blonde-haired 20-something. "...Your daughter, to keep the trash talking and shouting to a minimum? We here at Wismuth Fun Palace strive to maintain an atmosphere that is safe and friendly to patrons of all ages, and your current behavior is in violation of our terms of conduct."

Peridot says nothing. Peridot just gapes at him, her expression encompassing too many emotions at once to properly describe with words.

Strange is about to make another point about how her data's stupid and did you see how badly she bungled that last hole before the staff pipes up. Strange turns around, listens to Joshua's warning, and then just tries his hardest not to explode with anger at that 'daughter' comment.

Because he's not that old! He's only in his late thirties! Never mind the fact that Strange has way more gray hair than most men in their thirties do and at least is a foot taller than Peridot, glamor or no glamor. He's not that old and Joshua is getting one hell of a death glare right now.

"We'll try our best," Strange manages to stammer out, through gritted teeth. He turns back around and, low enough for Peridot to hear him but Joshua to not hear him, Strange starts to complain. "Let's not tell anyone at the carnival about his utterly wrong misunderstanding."

Says the person who will inevitably bring it up first.

For Peridot's part, she's more pissed off about being told to shut up by some rando than she is about being called Strange's daughter, mostly because she has no real understanding of the implications that come along with that perception. So Joshua gets the death glare, and she's still staring at the poor boy, right past Strange, even as he mutters to her.

"Yeah. Fine," she growls, and then zaps her novelty toy back into her gauntlet, and stomps off to take her shot.

There's no lengthy strategy applied this time. She just marches up and chops that ball impatiently. UNSURPRISINGLY, this doesn't go great for her? Instead of getting it going straight across the stupid bridge like it should, the ball just narrowly clips the one corner of the entrance and bounces back the way it came.

Judging by the smoke that is now coming out from between Peridot's gritted teeth and the thunderous expression on her face, Strange might want to consider keeping any dumb comments to himself for now.

Strange might want to keep a dumb comment to himself and yet he isn't. As Peridot completely screws up her first attempt, Strange's sulkiness vanishes and an annoying, slightly smug smile comes back on his face. Oh good. She's sucking as well.

Completely forgetting about Joshua's warning about this being a family friendly atmosphere, Strange starts trash-talking again.

"So, that's one..."

Hiiiiissssssssssssssssssss!!!!

Attempt number two: She steps over, chops it again. The ball at least goes down the bridge this time, but since it's at an angle, it kind of ricochets haphazardly down the length of it and rolls about 5 feet off from the hole at the other side.

At this point they have spent so long at the stupid London Bridge hole that the next group behind them is now standing there too, and waiting for them to get the heck out of the way.

"Number two," Strange continues counting, looking so amazingly smug. It's then that he notices the next group behind them, waiting and probably judging Peridot's playing technique. Turning towards them, Strange starts up a small conversation.

"If she doesn't get it in the next stroke or so, go ahead and play through. We'll probably spend too much time on this hole and the next one anyway." He says, without consulting Peridot. Turning around, he looks over towards the gem. "Is that fine with you?"

Of course, it's at this point that one of the members of the group that's waiting starts talking under his breath, wondering why the old guy's not giving his kid any tips and Strange's smug smile just freezes into a rictus grin for a moment.

Peridot is about to politely point out-- meaning, shout at him in a way that is not actually polite at all-- that Strange is the one that needed four whole strokes to get through this hole when she's about to get it in just three, so if anyone is holding the other group up, it's HIM... And then the comment happens.

This one succeeds in rubbing her the wrong way, because it more directly implies that she's some kind of human juvenile, which she absolutely is NOT? She whirls on the muttering guy, already seething, and points an accusatory claw in his direction. "I am NOT a KID!!!" she snarls, puffing up indignantly. "I am a-- Uh---"

Crap. She falters. What the heck's a normal human age for her cover?

"...I have survived FIFTY FIVE rotations of this planet around the Earth's sun, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon!"

Nailed it.

....when all of this is over, Strange is going to have to find a nice way to ask Steven to teach the gems about things like 'aging' and 'what a fifty five year old person actually looks like.' Because as soon as Peridot says that's what her normal age is, Strange resists the urge to rub his temples in annoyance as the other group of golfers looks around confused and kind of weirded out.

"Twenty five," he clarifies, trying to keep that polite sort of 'everything's fine' expression on his face. This is going nowhere fast. "She means twenty five. Odd sense of humor and all that." Out of the corner of his vision, Strange can see Joshua giving them a bit of a look at Peridot's outburst and the fact that they're holding up the game. So, Strange just quickly swaps into trying to do as much damage control as he can.

After all, he can't kick Peridot's ass in minigolf if they're kicked out. "Why don't you all go ahead and play through while my-" it is a struggle to get this word out "-daughter and I have a quick conversation."

"But I still need to finish my shot!" Peridot protests loudly, gesturing at her ball. "You're just trying to throw me off so I'll have to take more strokes and you can get a higher lead! I'M ON TO YOU, STRANGE!"

The other group is starting to look mighty uncomfortable at this point, having stepped forward at Strange's suggestion and then halted abruptly once more at Peridot's second outburst.

Alright, that's it. If the employees don't see this and complain, then these people are going to complain and Strange really doesn't want to get fussed at again, so apparently he's got to be the one to try and wrangle this situation back to something remotely resembling normal.

Why him? Why this? Isn't Peridot a supervisor? The excuse of being a space rock can only go so far!

"You're making a scene," Strange hisses, as he tries to forcibly grab Peridot's wrist and pull her out of the way. In theory, it was supposed to be more of a gentle pull. In practice, it's a straight up yank.

You're the one who riled her up, pal! YOU CREATED THIS MONSTER! You, and also Wismuth's weird magical emotion-amplifying atmosphere.

Peridot hisses, stumbles, and then digs her heels in, trying to yank her wrist back from his grasp. "HEY!" she snarls, ears flattening back. She grabs onto part of the fake bridge with her prehensile tail in order to anchor herself into place better, because fuck you Strange, now staying put is a matter of pride.

"Sir!" Joshua chimes in a warning from his post, starting to sound VERY annoyed.

"I know!" Strange yells at Joshua, either unaware or not caring that they're causing a scene. He grabs harder on Peridot's wrist and once again, tries to yank her out of the way and off of the green.

By now, the people behind them have decided you know what, let's just skip this hole and ignore the weird family. They start to walk over to the next hole. Not that Strange notices it, of course, as he's still trying to physically drag Peridot off the green, a fact which would be a lot easier if Strange could actually lift more than twenty pounds without complaining.

"OW?!" Peridot exclaims with outrage when he tightens his grip. "Get off, let go of me, you-- I AM YOUR SUPERIOR, YOU CAN'T TREAT ME LIKE THIS! Put me down and let me finish this hole or I swear on all the Diamonds I will BITE YOU Strange, I MEAN IT!"

"We are in public," Strange hisses, despite the fact that he too has apparently forgotten that they're in public and is continuing this petty nonsense. So no, he's not letting go and apparently doesn't believe that Peridot would actually bite him. "Let the others play through!"

The other group has just fucked on off to the fourth hole, abandoning this trainwreck and probably gossipping about them in the background.

Too bad Naruto isn't here so that SOMEONE could help Strange to Believe It, because guess what Peridot does? Surprise surprise! She bites him.

Actually, first she lets go of the bridge and plants both her feet flat on the ground, and THEN she bites him. Right on the wrist of the hand that's clamped around her own. She's not intending to draw blood? But her teeth are very sharp, and also very hot, because her temper rising to such a critical level means she's been spitting off sparks here and there for the last ten minutes.

In her defense, she gave him PLENTY OF WARNING.

Holy shit she actually bit him.

Part of Strange's wrist is actual flesh and yep, those hot sharp teeth sink into those. But also on his wrist are mirror covered scratches. Which means that at least some of Peridot's teeth are hitting glass and who knows what sort of trouble that will cause (please don't break his wrists).

Needless to say, the pointy bits of Peridot's teeth hurt. They really hurt. They hurt enough for Strange to let go of Peridot and also start swearing up a blue streak. "Goddamn, I can't believe you actually bit me! What the hell, Peridot!?"

That seems to be the last straw for poor Joshua. "This is a family friendly establishment!" Joshua responds, as he reaches to his waist to get a walkie-talkie to at least see if security can threaten these two into behaving.

Yeah she hadn't at all been expecting to hit glass when she made the decision to chomp down on him. "OW!" she squawks, and recoils with her hands at her mouth. She glowers at the man, like it's his particular fault that she just hurt her teeth while enacting physical violence on him.

"I warned you what would happen!" she counters, pointing an accusatory claw at him. "It's not my fault you didn't listen!"

Joshua is all but ignored, for now.

"Of course I didn't listen, I didn't expect you to actually bite me." Strange rolls back his sleeve slightly to examine the wounds. Congrats Peridot, you broke skin. Thankfully, the wounds are relatively small and Strange isn't just gushing blood all over the floor. Still, the fact that he's going to probably end up spending some of his allowance on bandages makes him a bit grumpy.

"For someone who's supposedly older than I am, you don't act it."

Says the person who barely acts his age to begin with.

"You're the one who assaulted me and escalated to physical violence first!" Peridot argues.

Suddenly, Joshua's backup arrives in the form of a tall, sturdily built woman whose name-tag identifies her as "Susan". She is literally in a security guard uniform. Some people might not think a miniature golf course would need security, but if you've ever been to a Chuck-E-Cheese before, you know horrible truth: the world of hosting children's birthday parties one that is fraught with violent conflict.

"Sir, would you mind telling me what seems to be the problem here?" Susan asks Strange sternly, her muscular arms folded at her chest.

⇨ WISMUTH

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