⇨ INVASION!

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone! But especially HARBINGERS!
When: S2:D16-22
Where: All over Wismuth!
What: As the Harbingers reveal themselves, those among the carnival that Creation has chosen will start to discover new powers within themselves. It's because they're magical girls, yo.
Warnings: Harbingers being assholes.

HARBINGERS OF VOID↴ On Day 16, the Harbingers begin revealing their new selves... in the form of wreaking havoc on the city! CY-Ren isn't looking for mass panic or serious structural damage - instead she wants constant annoyances and distractions, of the sort that will keep those that might be on her tail distracted from her true plans. However, when Creation is faced with the threat of twelve new Harbingers, it will have to fight in kind... ► HARBINGERS: Your job is to use your powers to create messes for other people to clean up! CY-Ren gives no specific instructions outside of a general framework... flex your powers! See what you can do. Don't destroy the city or anything, but give Creation a run for its money. She needs these civilians alive for her later plans. ► STAR GUARDIANS: Twelve members of the carnival have been chosen by Creation to fight in its name, even if they don't realize it yet. When confronted by the Harbinger's chaos, their Sparks will make themselves known in whatever form is appropriate to the character - and they will be asked if they are willing to use the power of their soul to fight the darkness. How this scene plays out can be flexible, but essentially they will find themselves faced with the question: are they willing to fight for the preservation of life? If they say yes, their Spark will emerge, and they will be able to trigger a magical girl transformation, as you do. ► CHARITY CONCERT: While everyone else is busy with the sudden rise of the Harbingers, CY-Ren's PR team is releasing a statement -- they will say that new information has revealed that there had been bomb threats made against the canceled concert, which are now being blamed for the damages. CY-Ren will make a personal statement, saying that in order to apologize for the failure of her previous performances, a new free to attend event is being planned for the near future - people who had tickets to the previous event and had to go home early get top priority!

Comments

Mind games!

[kingsroads]

Even Strange is aware of his flaws. He's getting old, creation didn't pick him fora reason, he kept making mistakes and eventually all those mistakes will catch up with him. Who does he think he is? People look up to him, they ask him questions but he doesn't know what he's doing. He rubs at his wrist as he's caught up in his own mistakes and worries and self doubts.

But the main problem here is that Jonathan Strange is one of the most annoyingly self-confident and arrogant men on the planet. He's a constant fuck up who can't summon something without messing it up? Well screw you self doubt, he's amazing, he'll do it better next time. He's older than most people in the carnival, that just means he has more experience and more to teach people (because of course they'd listen to him.)

As such, at Shima's question, Strange can't help but frown. Weaponized self doubt and utter gloom butting up against unbridled arrogance and the spirit of fuck this is making a weird combination. "I don't really know how to feel," Strange admits, not even realizing that Shima popped up out of nowhere. "It's certainly odd, however."

[worldlyafflictions]

Hm, that's not quite the reaction he was expecting. Shima takes a step back.

"Odd that ya don't know how ta feel...?"

Maybe this guy needs to be underwear zapped AND self-perception whammied. Do people like this get those 'naked in front of the classroom' dreams? Considers as he waits to see if Strange decides to pay more attention to the Harbringer or if he won't notice for a while.

[kingsroads]

"Precisely!" Strange responds, with a little frown. "It's a bit like I'm feeling...at odds with myself? Like when you're tired but you just can't-"

Strange cuts himself off. Ah. Now that he's here and he's gotten a better look at that magic, he can sense what this is. Harbinger magic. Again! Strange turns to look at Shima with the resigned expression of someone who's had an amazingly awful past few days and expects this to go sour as well.

"Well go on, what can you do? Is it fruits? I ended up handling that rather well in the end." After the disastrous first fifteen minutes, that is. And Strange handled it by blowing a pineapple up. Okay, so he didn't really handle it but he thinks he did.

[worldlyafflictions]

"Eeeh, ya really wanna see?"

Shima tilts his head, posture relaxed and hands where Strange can see them, sounding very reasonable, as if to show he won't do anything else Harbringer-y without being asked to. In fact, the train of self-doubts seem to lessen.

"It's a little harder ta pin down than fruits."

[kingsroads]

"I don't want to see it," Strange clarifies, tensing up slightly. Whatever this is, if he turns to smoke fast enough then he feels he'd certainly be able to outlast it. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that he'd like to know what it is in the first place. Easier to deal with and all that.

"A verbal explanation would suffice. All the other harbingers I've met seem to be a bit chatty, I'm sure you're no exception."

1/2

[worldlyafflictions]

"Don't worry, don't worry! Isn't it more fun ta figure it out yourself? Just watch."

[itstootroublesome]

He holds a hand out and snaps his fingers, and without Strange even blinking there is now a tiny pink-haired girl standing in front of him. For just a moment he might even imagine that this is how Shima looked the whole time.

"How's that. Getting an idea?"

[kingsroads]

No, he isn't, because that tells him absolutely nothing! Strange can't help but look briefly aggravated at Shima's transformation.

"No I'm not! There's two options here, either transformation or illusion. I'm hoping it's the former as transformation magic's more easier to dispell. Honestly, why so many people here seem to actively seek out that strain of magic is beyond me. You'd think that illusions would be more capable but no, let's physically turn into a dragon instead."

Everything about Strange's demeanor implies that he will go on talking and bitching unless Shima cuts him off then and there. Once again, poor Shima isn't getting any semblance of respect.

[worldlyafflictions]

Despite the lack of respect, Shima seems cheerful, dispelling whatever he did just as quickly as it happened. Strange is on the right track, and Shima can't help being a little smug that in a round about way he's actually saying that Shima is "more capable". Also, the more Strange starts to talk about how right his own opinions are, the more right he starts to feel. Probably a very familiar thing for him to feel, honestly.

"Haha, well maybe it's harder ta hit stuff with an illusion?"

[kingsroads]

It is indeed a familiar thing for Jonathan 'got called out by a prophecy for being an arrogant asshat' Strange to feel. Of course he's right. And of course he knows what he's talking about. Any sort of tenseness or on edge nature is starting to fade from Strange's stance because why would he worry about that sort of thing to begin with?

"Illusions are more flexible," Strange lectures, a bit of a snotty tone entering his voice. "With most people who can transform themselves, they're limited to one or two forms. Of course, someone transforming others has no limitations—I've turned things into all sorts of animals. But that's limited to the body. Illusions can affect all sorts of things."

While Strange resisted the mindwhammy of self-doubt, he's taking to the mindwhammy of self-assertion like a duck to water. Of course he's right. Of course he knows things. And he's going to explain to Shima just all the things he knows.

[worldlyafflictions]

Shima assumes a very interested listening posture, seemingly sitting on air, one elbow resting on one knee, chin in hand, demonstrating a bit more of his Harbringer magic while managing to look attentive even while wearing a blindfold. The over-earnestness of it is probably edging on mocking, though the literal illusion of interest is enhanced by Strange getting a little self-congratulatory. But will Strange notice that while he's busy listening to himself talk?

"Eeeh, if you can transform others without limits then doesn't that still make it more useful overall than just doing some kinda sense trick?"

[kingsroads]

No, Strange won't notice that in the slightest. He is too damn busy wrapped up in himself and his own ego to notice the fact that Shima's teasing him.

"Not entirely. I'm still having a little bit of trouble with the magic for turning someone back, though I'm confident I'll sort it out sometime soon. And transformation requires an immense amount of magical power and concentration. Illusions are much more versatile."

He's talking with his hands as he does so, making vague gestures to help emphasize his point. "I'm glad to see you're interested in this, by the way," he quickly adds in. "For being in a magic carnival, most of our coworkers seem content with just a base understanding of magic."

[worldlyafflictions]

"Oh, ya know...!" He trails off modestly, like his interest isn't a big deal, so as not to compete with Strange's ego. "I don't come from a place with this kinda magic! Stuff like transformations 'n illusions are literally the work of demons, where I'm from. You'll probably have ta demonstrate this stuff for me ta really get it."

That sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? There's plenty of things (and people) around the boardwalk that would make good props for a demonstration. And really that's just the best way to show off one's skills and knowledge, right?

[kingsroads]

Demonstrating? Hell yeah that's a great idea! He can totally demonstrate some of his magic! Strange looks around the boardwalk, super pumped, as if some idea for magic to use will make itself apparent.

"You're the one who wants a demonstration. Do you want transformation or something else? Elemental manipulation is more my specialty and much more impressive-looking than transformation. And, I can keep that going longer!"

And since they're on a boardwalk, there's plenty of water and sand for Strange to show off with.