⇨ EDEN PT. 2

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 86 - Day 88
Where: Eden
What: The Furies of Eden have been found and have agreed to ally with the carnival to achieve their mutual goals. Meanwhile, tensions in the city only get thicker. How much longer until everyone's cover is blown for good?
Warnings: Increasingly high chances of ritual sacrifices.

FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE↴ Progresses has been made, but obstacles are approaching. As various characters fall under suspicion for their unusual natures the threat of backlash from the community of Honorables and Architects grows imminent. Several carnival members have fled to the Barrens, allying with the Furies of Eden, a rebel group bent on defying Lilith and taking Eden for themselves. Meanwhile, those still in the city are left with the aftermath. Information is still being cycled between the two groups, via various super powers and delivery methods. Sans has been freed from the control of his Architect and has left to find the rebels, but his delivery service is still being used to disperse information. You can assume to have been told about anything on this spreadsheet that's been addressed to the entire mailing list. ► TENSIONS GROW: As the days go on, the attitude of long term residents have only grown more suspicious and hostile. Several members of the new arrivals have gone missing, and it seems as if the locals are starting to suspect these absences are intentional rather than accidental. Some of the most ornery of them will say things that suggest that they think they've run off to join the heretics, but they will be hushed by those near them. However, no immediately violence is being imposed on people from the carnival's entry group. Not that you've seen, anyway. ► SAMYAZA'S INVITATION: Displeased by the atmosphere being created by all this distrust, Samyaza the Hare, Architect of Festivities and Music, has invited all of the remaining new arrivals to an exclusive garden party of hers. Everyone who is still in the city will be invited to attend, along with some choice members of the native population. The actual party will be happening on Day 88. Attendance is strongly recommended by the other Honorables. The nature of this even will depend on what occurs before it, and will be covered in more detail later in the log. The invitations go out on Day 86. ► HERESY UNVEILED: On the evening of Day 86, the city of Eden is alight with controversy - a band of Furies have been found! Hasma of Araqiel (the horse featured in Missing posters last week) has been caught within city borders, along with two Honorables of Eden who had been secretly colluding with her. The three condemned Furies have been bound and chained in cages in a public areas of the city, awaiting trial and punishment. It's a similar tone to criminals being locked in stockades for the civilians to mock, though the initial city mood seems more uncomfortable and nervous than angry. There is a horse, squirrel, and border collie currently imprisoned. ► RINGMASTER'S RETURN: On Day 87, the Ringmaster will be returning from her investigation. Specifically, she'll be arriving at the doorstep of the Furies in the Barrens, and will be entering to visit her associates within. Apparently, she's been spending all this time searching the barrens for entrances into the core of Eden, as well as trying to communicate with the Serpent. Neither have yielded major successes, however. Carnival members at the Furies base can ask interact with her through investigations.

Comments

[periphrasing]

Peridot is actually caught off guard a bit, to see that she may have actually gotten through to Jasper for once. She'd pretty much been expecting her to find some way of arguing that, considering their track record on these discussions.

"I figured as much," she says with a sigh, shoulders sagging with relief. "Given the choice between those two options, you'd more likely fight us. That's what rebels do. They make a third option when the world tries to tell them that there's only two."

[stompadour]

"That's... it's different, though," says Jasper, half to herself. "Even if you'd healed me, that wouldn't -- you wouldn't have made me, it isn't..."

[periphrasing]

"I mean, we wouldn't have." A beat. "...Well. Steven definitely wouldn't have. That's not the point though. It's just a hypothetical scenario for the purposes of placing a familiar context around my explanation."

[stompadour]

"What? I meant you wouldn't have created me -- and I know Lilith didn't exactly create these animals either, but they created them as -- as people, didn't they?"

[periphrasing]

They were so close, and now Jasper sounds like she's taking several steps backwards. Typical.

"Um, I never imagined I'd be saying this to you of all people, but: you're overthinking this," Peridot huffs.

[stompadour]

"What?" Jasper straightens up a bit and looks down at her indignantly. "What do you mean I'm overthinking this?"

[periphrasing]

"You're focusing on trivial differences, but the core issue between both scenarios remains the same," she says. "Besides, healing your corruption really wouldn't be that different; you'd be uplifted from a state where previously, you had no sapience or agency of your own. It's the same thing."

[stompadour]

"But I didn't start out like that," says Jasper, a little desperately. "It would just be putting me back to normal, not ... not giving me something I'd -- never had before!"

[periphrasing]

"The point is that we'd still be using something we did for you as leverage to boss you around, which is just what Lilith does with the Honorables," Peridot insists stubbornly. "You're deliberately trying to destabilize my point because you know I'm right!"

[stompadour]

Jasper sags slightly. Maybe she is.

"... You think it's the same with gems, though, don't you," she says, looking uneasy. "About the Diamonds, making us."

[periphrasing]

Peridot shifts uncomfortably. For once, she really doesn't want to bring this back to her and her own issues with authority.

"Basically, yeah," she grunts. "So does that help? Or do you still have other questions?"

[stompadour]

"... I don't know," says Jasper. Her ears are folded back, and she looks the kind of frustrated that means she's upset and she's frustrated that she's upset. She wants to just dismiss everything that Peridot's said -- just decide that the difference between this situation and the Crystal Gems is obvious because of course it's obvious, because the Architects and Lilith are barely anything like the power structures she's used to and therefore rebelling against them is a reasonable and justified course of action to take and it's all fine...

Except she keeps thinking back to her conversation with Rizo, and how familiar his demeanour was; how easy it apparently was for someone who reminded her so much of herself to hold that kind of absolute conviction about their obviously flawed society. She hasn't been able to get it out of her head. That's why she's having this conversation in the first place.

She frowns down at Peridot.

"You think I'm stupid," she says. "Don't you."

[periphrasing]

Jasper's reaction is... Difficult, for Peridot to watch. And her question just makes things even more awkward. Peridot has no problem calling people stupid on her own terms, but being directly asked like that makes her distinctly uncomfortable. She feels VERY MUCH put on the spot, and a polite answer evades her.

"Whaaaaaat? N-n-no, of course not!" she says awkwardly, forcing a sickeningly nervous looking smile in a pathetic attempt to sound more sincere.

[stompadour]

Jasper glares at her.

[periphrasing]

Peridot scowls in embarrassment, a flush creeping up her face. She doesn't really know what the heck Jasper expected to hear, asking her a question like that out of the blue. She scratches one side of her face distractedly, clearly vexed.

"Look-- I mean really it depends on what you mean by stupid, okay? It's more that I think you're stubborn and close-minded, generally-- moreso than the average gem I'd say. Up until this conversation you've never given me any reason to assume otherwise!" the raccoon splutters defensively.

[stompadour]

Well, she was hoping Peridot would just say so instead of being an idiot about it, but whatever. She snorts and paws the ground with one hoof.

"I spoke to one of the Honorables," she cuts in, before Peridot can embarrass herself any more, "who reminded me of. Me. He acted like me. He sounded like he thought like me."

She flicks her tail. Her eyes narrow slightly, as she looks away from Peridot.

"I thought he was stupid."

[periphrasing]

And so this conversation continues to get weirder and weirder, by Peridot's metric. Why is Jasper telling her all of this? Does she expect her to have some kind of answer, some sage advice? This seems like the perfect opening for finding the common ground that she used to vaguely hope she and Jasper might share some day, but she's been burned thinking like that before.

Then again, Jasper has never shown this much vulnerability to her before. Peridot typically wouldn't mind that with most people, but Jasper has always been such an immovable force that seeing her shaken like this feels almost... perverse. She's really not sure what to tell her, so she replies with a question of her own instead.

"What made you think he was stupid?"

[stompadour]

Jasper (who would, if asked, insist she was just explaining why she asked that question but who is absolutely hoping for some kind of insight) frowns at her.

"I just -- their whole society is so stupid and he was acting like breaking their rules was unthinkable, or wanting to do something else was unthinkable, it was..." She grits her awful horse teeth. "And that's how I look to you, isn't it?"

[periphrasing]

Peridot's expression is weary as she continues to look up at the horse. These are way more difficult questions than she was prepared to deal with today?

"That's one facet of it, yeah," she admits. There's no beating around that bush, really, and Peridot's not particularly inclined to pull any verbal punches anyway.

[stompadour]

"Yeah," says Jasper, looking suddenly tired. "So I -- Look, this isn't me changing my mind or anything, okay? I just... need to think about some things and I thought you..." She frowns. This is... more than she'd wanted to say, or even really specifically think about her motivations in approaching Peridot here. She shakes her head and snorts, both in the horse sense of doing those things, and mutters, "forget it."

[periphrasing]

"Look," Peridot cuts in, uncomfortable with letting the conversation end here. "This is going to sound incredibly stupid, but-- Ugh. I just need to say this, okay? What you just described-- That's not the ONLY thing I see when I look at you. I also see a loyal gem warrior who cares about our Homeworld, which, contrary to what you may think I think, isn't actually a bad thing. And..."

She's really hesitant to say this next part, and when it comes out it's more blurted than anything, like she wants to be rid of the words as quickly as possible: "I see me. Like, a past version of me, who's WAY more stubborn, and INFURIATING. Whether you change your mind or not, I don't care... I just think it's a good thing that you're actually giving this more thought."

[stompadour]

Jasper had been about to turn to go, and when Peridot interrupts she stops with one hoof lifted and just kind of keeps it there, surprised, while she says her piece.

After a few moments of silence, she puts it down.

"... You don't care if I change my mind?" she says doubtfully. Possibly she raises an eyebrow, as if she is a horse with eyebrows voiced by Matt Damon or something. "Seriously?"

[periphrasing]

"I mean, I'd be pleasantly surprised if you did. But I've more or less given up on hoping for it," she replies, glancing away awkwardly.

[stompadour]

Jasper snorts.

"Huh," she says. "Good. Alright, in that case -- what you said just now. You're telling me you think it's good to care about Homeworld? That doesn't make any sense."

[periphrasing]

"I've told you before, I still care about Homeworld," Peridot growls, glancing sidelong at Jasper and baring her teeth. "It's possible to care about more than one planet at a time, you know. Valuing Earth and valuing Homeworld don't have to be mutually exclusive; the Diamonds just try to make it that way."